Welcome to this month’s blog of 1-2-1 sessions with our members. This is an opportunity to expand on a member’s profile and give some personal insight into what they do and why.

This month is Aaron Wren of Brights Locksmiths. Brights is the largest locksmith company in Southend and has operated for around 100 years. It’s trusted by emergency services and local authorities to enter and secure premises. It prides itself on a honest, reliable and quick service and operates from its shop in Alexandra Street, offering a full range of security services from simple key cutting to emergency/24 hour call outs.

Brights prides itself on its service that all keys cut by them are guaranteed. If they don’t work they’ll do it again for free. If they still don’t work they’ll come and check the lock, and cut a key from the lock itself.

Aaron himself has been with the firm 10 years. He started as a trainee, soon after finishing school, and has worked his way up within the firm. He can often be seen driving around on numerous call outs – he’s on call 24 hours a day – and could be working with the police, fire brigade or just members of the public that are locked out.

“We do the things people expect – sell locks, cut keys, come out to your house if you’re locked out. We can get into cars too. But we also supply and fit locks for builders/developers, do security checks, alarm systems and so on. We have clients all over the country and some unique ones, such as church locks that require new keys, cut by hand. We get sent door handles from classic cars being restored in order for new keys to be cut.”

“We’re clear with all these clients that we don’t sub-contract. We don’t pass work to others – it’s our work, our reputation. If you hire us, you get us, not some other locksmith that we’ve passed the work onto and kept a percentage.”

Obviously, there’s an issue with ensuring you’re not aiding and abetting, how would a locksmith know they’re opening a house for the owner and not some random stranger?

“You can generally just get a feel for it. We can get caught in between a divorcing couple, both of whom have a legal right to the property and they keep changing the locks to stop/annoy the other. If we doubt someone owns it we have certain questions we can ask. We may ask for ID. If it’s car we may wish to see the log book. Often, people offer these things without being asked. In my ten years I’ve never had any cases of foul play in that way.”

In that way? Does that mean there is foul play?

“What people don’t realise is anyone can call themselves a locksmith,” says Aaron. “To be confident you are getting a  good service you should go to a well established firm and one that is registered with the Master Locksmiths Association.”

The MLA has examinations that cover the theory and practical of locksmithery. The theory is about the types of locks available, their components and which to use for which situation. It also covers ethical aspects.

“The practical bit is the most interesting though,” adds Aaron. “You learn how to pick a lock, how to cut a key by hand, gain entry through a dead bolt lock, how to take a mould of a key from a lock. I could so easily burgle houses – but obviously I don’t!”

“Using a firm registered with the MLA means you have some assurances. We have so many call outs where we’re the second person to visit. The client has got locked out, called a locksmith in but the work has been so bad that they’ve wanted another one along to fix it. We had a spate of cases recently where someone had charged almost £500 for a simple gain entry and replace, when the advert said £49 flat fee.”

“We aim to get in damage free – since we’d have to repair it we try not to break it! We have some tools that allow us to open doors without drilling the lock. 99% of the time we manage that. Drilling the lock is time consuming and requires a full replacement – this costs money but even so nowhere near the £500 that we’ve seen people pay to less reputable locksmiths.”

Brights is, naturally, registered with the MLA and Trading Standards approved. All its staff are DBS checked and so you can be assured you are getting a safe, secure reliable service. If you need a key cut why not head down to their shop or if you’ve found yourself stuck out in the cold at night, call!