Re-training as a locksmith. UK based questions.

[Neil_1li]

First of all I’d like to say hello to all on this forum, I’ve lurked for a little while but this is the first time I’ve felt I needed to post.

I’m currently in the British Army and I’m due to leave in a few months. I’m very interested in re-training as a locksmith and the Army has a list of “approved providersâ€

[lockey1963]

Nothing comes close to the courses ran by the master locksmith association if serious about this as a career in the long term.
The trouble with the short courses is that they cover too little, it will take you between 2 and 4 years to even become a competent locksmith and this certainly isnt achieved in days or weeks.

My advice would be steer away from the one you heard bad reviews on , as to bob at sas, its a good basic course but again in no way covers enough of what you will need, and you will eventually have to buy the rest of the training from the other specialist trainers in their fields to have a hope of survival.

The mla program is 2nd to none, it is well structured and designed to give you the training you need to have the best chance of survival in this industry, though even with MLA training this will be an uphill struggle.

Id advise a thorough business plan and research into the geographical area you plan to trade in, as most areas are overpopulated with newly trained locksmiths advertising their services.
it is fact that only 1 in every 100 new locksmith start ups last 12 months, its also fact that despite which training you go for you will be unlikely to make any sort of living within your 1st 18 months of trading, wont go into this as plenty of factual advise exists on this on the net.

The answer to your questions lies in you, what sort of locksmith do you want to be ? a drill kill and fast buck merchant after some quick money and a short career, or do you want to be the best in your area offering a broad range of industry services and capable of doing the job properly.

you will have to ensure you have sufficient training from somewhere , and become technically competent in;

basic carpentry
UPVC Repair and upgrade
relevent british standards
access control

also needed will be

excellent NDE entry skills and trust me this takes alot longer than a few weeks to become even competent at.

Your options are to take all of the above elements seperately with seperate specialist trainers, or to do the whole lot on the MLA program.

The problem with most short courses is that they teach little more than basic entry and i promise you will not be confident or competent even in this area and if lucky a bit of fitting with a jig, certainly not enough training to be able to offer much more than a basic entry service probably on the whole with a drill and a basic change service, The one thing i can guarantee you is that you wont ever make a living at offering this limited services as the industry sees nearly 2000 new start ups a year offering this of which most go bust before the years end.
every new start up offers this and all undercut each other to try and make a quid, sadly most do not make it.

Please do not do as many ex service guys do, and throw your gratuity away on shoddy training and in an industry you have only a slim chance of survival in, if still wanting to have a go, then it may seem expensive but the mla program is by far your best chance of survival and if you want to be a locksmith in the true sense of the word then mla is the only route to follow.

[Neil_1li]

Thanks for your prompt and in-depth reply lockey1963, it’s nice to have such a friendly forum as this.

I’m defiantly going to look at the MLA courses in more depth, I’m lucky in that I have another trade under my belt to keep the bread on the table while I keep plugging away at the courses. My only concern is how I’m going to get the practical experience while I’m working. I doubt many locksmiths would be happy taking a “volunteerâ€

[kwc]

Hi Neil,
I would also go for MLA (if i could afford it).
Forget Anvil. Do a search to see why.

I don't live far from them and i did ask for information from them.
As soon as they knew i was local they didn't want to know.
(Too easy for me to reach them to complain maybe?).

If i had the money then i would choose MLA.

Kev

[79commando]

Speak to any Squaddie that has done the Anvil course and are still training after 1 yr and you will see why they get bad press. Even better ask Anvil to give you the names and contacts of 5 successful students.

[Dean W]

I did the Anvil course, its not good. I have also doen the just locks courses which were good for the money. I have now elected to go on the MLA general and opening course, which I commence in Oct.

[lockey1963]

mla has its politics and internal power problems, but the training is 2nd to none, to be a full member of the mla/bli your skills are recognised nationwide, worldwide and you can trade in other countries as well as the uk.
no other course despite some wild claims have this recognition.

The MLA are by far the best general locksmiths around, the icl have the best nde openers, icl recognise mla members but not vice versa as yet. so the best course to begin with is the one that costs the most but stands you in good stead for your future in the industry and is recognised by the entire world wide industry.

as to practice, its on the bench and an investment in locks and tools for this, as you say it is unlikely that anyone will want to train the competition, most learn on the door, but the consumer often suffers this way.

once initial training is done you could work paye for the likes of timpsons for additional training and experience for a year or 2 , all would stand you in good stead.

[lockey1963]

what area do you plan on working in geographicaly

[Neil_1li]

what area do you plan on working in geographicaly

North East. Tyne & Wear area.

[kwc]

Hi Neil,
Good luck in our area.
The market is flooded with lockies in the North East (as most of the Uk).

Any jobs I have looked at and had interviews for, they all suggest learning via MLA as a starting block.

Some of my locksmith friends who are not MLA say its a waste of time but i would disagree. They are good locksmiths but most of the time they drill.
"why pick when you can drill and replace the lock in less time, time is money" they say.

The MLA is the Only UK guide for the public. (even though ICL are catching up) as far as giving some degree of confidence to the standard of the locksmith.
Kev

[horsefeathers]

i think lockey1963's first reply to this post should be made into a sticky!

good sound advice!

[toomush2drink]

Well with the current economic climate think this through long and hard. You need to really do your homework as work is scarce for many at present due to the huge amounts of startups.

My domestic work has plummetted but as its not my only market its not a problem as other areas of the business are strong.
So many locksmiths contact myself and other local lockies i know asking for work or experience,many want to sub but have little knowledge or skill.

Just to put it into reality when i did my course about 4 1/2 years ago there were less than 10 training schools out there,now there are over 100. Each one is turning out more and more wannabe locksmiths EVERY weekend which amounts to extreme amounts of competition.The competition affects the newer startups more than the established one s too so you really are swimming against the current so to speak.

[lockey1963]

The MLA isnt the be all of the industry at all , ICL are excellent specialists within their specialist area of NDE and for the inustry sector they seek to represent, they are a niche of specialists in different skills than mla, so do not compete or seek to.

Also many of the industries top locksmiths and safe engineers are not in the MLA or the ICL and in fact have no affiliation to any group at all.

The main point i have tried to make is it is down to the individual how good he/she becomes based on what they put into it, regardless of which groups if any they join and work within, if you want to be the best then it stands to reason to follow the best all round locksmith training available, which is undoubtably the MLA.

If asked where is best to train for NDE entry skills id have said ICL trainers or safeventures.
If asked about upvc id have said don braidwood in swansea
if asked about auto , id have said rob gray in knebworth
if after a general taster to see if it suits id suggest justlocks

But if asking which is the best course to give the grounding to be a good all round general locksmith, then it can only be MLA as they cover the basics of all of the above as well as carpentry and key cutting, current standards etc etc, as ex military it sickens me to see the likes of some cheating these guys out of their often hard earned service based gratuity.

Look up taylorgord on this forum ex navy submariner for his sins, an excellent lockie and good safe tech these days, in your area of the country also , helpfull and will advise you honestly and give you the heads up in the area, oldboy called commando79 is also ex military and knows the pitfalls faced by servicemen looking to get in the door of this industry.

[lockpicker69]

yes very good advice lockey 1963.be very careful Neil there is a lot of outlay involved,do some more serching about before you commit. what is your other trade ? have you thought about taking it further?

[Dean W]

Have you got the ELCAS funding as well as your resettlement grant? If so the MLA are now on the service provider list for ELCAS (Anvil are no longer on this list).