Some Advice please.

[Matov]

I am planning on becoming a London Licensed Taxi driver and given that it will involve me being in Central London for 3-4 nights a week thought that I might be able to combine it with offering an emergency only call out service for people who have locked themselves out or similar.

Any advice on the best route to go down to get the best training to equip me for this ? I already own a Property Management Company and have been told by a couple of Locksmiths that they can put work my way (they dont deal with evening call outs ).

Thanks and apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

[secondcity]

why not throw a pipe bender and a few wrenches in your taxi and do plumbing aswell, this sort of thing is ruining our industry ! Sorry if i've been a bit harsh but what you propose is exactly what we want to discourage

[toomush2drink]

In central london are a heck of a lot of banhams and other high security locks so its not just a case of doing a course and off you go. i personally think you should stick to cabbing rather "than have a go" at being a locksmith. I for one dont want to encourage another half trained person calling themselves a locksmith who just skims off the lockouts with a drill in hand.
You have appreciate some of us are doing this for a living and have invested £££££££ in tools and equipment to do it properly.

[illusion]

If you get called out to a Bramah or deadlocked Ingersoll you'll be right down in the gutter.

[taylorgdl]

Well, I can see where you're coming from, but like some of the others have said, London has some very good locks in common use. I think I would struggle to get some of them open. Plus, I would have thought that being a cabbie would occupy your time almost exclusively. You may find a course useful for your property management business, but if you're just changing locks for your own properties that you already have the keys for, then you don't need to waste your money on a course. You could quite easily pick it up as you go along, or read some of the articles on here.
Where would you rather be ? A cabbie or a locksmith, I doubt you'd be able to cover both to a decent standard. Which would take preference ? A taxi call out or one for a lockout ? (and don't believe the hype about the huge bucks that a locksmith makes, I bet the same rumours are true for cab drivers).
Some food for thought,
G.

[Matov]

Firstly thank you for the responses and apologies if I have upset anybody. Its just that after years in the Property Management business and dealing with the aftermath of numerous cowboy locksmiths who get called by Tenants who have lost handbags whilst out at night I just thought that the two jobs could have some common ground.

I am not just looking to rush into this ( I have set myself a target of 2-3 years ) and am happy to learn properly but would just like some advice on the best direction. And, it must be said, that a lot of qualified Locksmiths seem very reluctant to offer a night time call out service for central London.

[taylorgdl]

If you are intent on going on a course, there are several that are recommended on this site, try in one of the other threads, and it should have all the contact details etc.

G.

[toomush2drink]

Ask yourself why they dont offer this service in central london, maybe its the silly parking restrictions or the possibility of a banham. I did a job in fulham the other day and noticed virtually every other house had a banham, this is because they cant get insurance without them.Even though you may be thinking of getting the skills long term, the correct way in my mind, you will still need to carry stock. Lost keys mean people normally want the locks changed and that means carrying a lot of stock to cover most situations. I had a berlingo but it couldnt cope with the weight of my stock so i had to get a bigger van, a car wont cut it.
I do see your angle though and if its an unexplored market then go for it but it will cost a fair bit to get the right training and tools. Look in the business section of this site as i and a few others have written some guides on starting up,training etc.

[haribo]

I dont know about the other chaps but i am 24hr and hardly get anything after 10pm with my own business and I work 24hr for most of the nationals (sorry) and get nothing from them either. Whether there is more business after hours in london I dont know, but I am in north kent just outside London. You need to be properly trained in this business to avoid the cowboy status but is it viable getting properly trained and paying out for this and the right stock if you may not get the calls you expect? Although i had a lock out sunday night and chap asked if i could drop him to cash machine to get the money out, if this happens to you with a Taxi sign on top your motor you could be cheeky and put your cabby hat on and charge for the privilage aswell!

[Matov]

Although i had a lock out sunday night and chap asked if i could drop him to cash machine to get the money out, if this happens to you with a Taxi sign on top your motor you could be cheeky and put your cabby hat on and charge for the privilage aswell!

Now thats a thought

But I did think that since a lot of Taxis are now equiiped with Credit Card taking machines, this could be a way of getting payment for the lock call outs as well.

However I have taken all your comments on board and it certainly is food for thought. From my own dealings with Banham, in terms of getting spare keys and the like, I assume that it is only Banham registered companies that can pick them ?

[chrisjc33]

Firstly thank you for the responses and apologies if I have upset anybody.

Lets look at this from the lockies point of view what if us locksmiths on a lockout started picking people up taxing them around taking your work how would you feel?