Locksmith training courses

tanith

I have a young relative unemployed for 6mths now and thinks that training to be a locksmith could be the answer to his prayers... does anyone have any knowledge of courses preferably not private companies that would be suitable or any advice would be most appreciated... we have looked online but there are so many private companies out there how do we tell the good ones from the rip-off merchants... we realise it will not be cheap and if several of us club together to help him out with the course and expenses it would be viable.... How hard would it be for him to get work afterwards? He is keen to try on his own if he cannot get a job but we have to get him to realise its not as simple as WANTING IT...... and starting out on his own is a big endeavour but of course its not completly unattainable....
He lives in West London by the way .....

Any advice pleeese!!

kiki21

Not sure of how much help I can be but my OH took a locksmith course which was paid for by his employer. AFAIK it is the only course where you get a city and guilds certificate on completion, provided you pass. (I checked with C&G before hand)
It wasn't cheap!! costing approx. £1800 for the full course of 3 days but included accommodation.
There are a few checks made before you do the course.
My OH really enjoyed the course and said the trainers were very good.(he passed btw)
At the end they provided him with employers names that he could of contacted for work (which he didn't need as he is employed already)
Lots in the south-east
Also loads of info about starting your own locksmith business.
The company is Anvil in Whitley Bay.
A fair distance but we are in Essex and he travelled up by train.
They are very friendly and helpful so you could always give them a ring and see what you think.

There are,like you say, loads of companys offering this kind of thing and some will take lots of money to show you a few 'tricks' then sell you high priced equipment.IMO I would steer clear of some of these.

There a couple of locksmith Associations which also provide training ,these seem to be along drawn out route but if he is serious about doing this it maybe an option.
I would try and gather as much info as possible and go from there.
Hope this helps a little, feel free to pm me if you want to know more.

tanith

Thanks Kiki thats just the sort of thing I was looking for although £1800 took my breath away a little bit... maybe we could find something cheaper as he would probably prefer not to go residential anyway.... I just looked at the site you suggested and they seem to run a 2day course which would hopefully be much cheaper , I have e-mailed them for some prices .....

Thanks again....

kiki21

Not sure if on the 2 day course you get the City and Guilds (and still not 'cheap')
I guess that is what you are paying for.
you have to decide whether the certificate is worth the money or not.
Think Corgi
Apparently qualified locksmiths do make good money!
My OH is still deciding if he should give up his comfortable job to go solo.
You really should be able to be on-call 24/7
Some locksmith forums will advise you that there is a huge cost in starting you own business
Also you have to think about how much regular work will be available,so maybe a second skill will be needed ie: carpentry,fitting/changing locks
I think you would need lots of practise even after taking a course so maybe working for someone else first would be sensible.
An apprenticeship would be good if you can find one

The courses with the Associations are in smaller chunks but probably workout about the same.
I remember there was a company around Northampton that seemed more reasonable,(sorry can't remember the name) but I have no personal knowledge of their courses.
I'm sure if you speak to a few different companys you will find one that is right for him and your pocket!!!

tanith

Kiki I agree with everything you said but try getting an eager and unemployed 19yr old to listen to words of wisdom...:rotfl:
Actually his dad already does deal with a lot of lock issues as he works for a housing association maintainence company and he is always the one they call on to do any 'lock' jobs so he hopes to reinforce any courses that the lad will go on....... its just they felt it would be better for him to have some form of official 'training' hopefully with a qualification... but its turning out to be much more expensive than we anticipated ... oh well I guess I will have to pawn the family jewels :rotfl:

kiki21

I know what you mean!!!!!!
19 years old would be a great age to get into this.
My OH works for a local council who were willing to pay for the training.(luckily!)
Saves them a few quid now he can enter a property without having to repair the doors/locks after.
They are still not prepared to pay for him to be on call out and they paid approx £700 when they called an emergency locksmith recently (see money to be made!!!) but I guess the tenant ended up with that bill.
The council have also taken on a couple of apprentices in carpentry who attend college so maybe thats worth looking into aswell.
My OH was horrified at a 'house of horrors' type program that showed rogue locksmiths charging the earth for horrendous jobs, it seems anyone can set themselves up in business.
I think a certificate of some sort would be worth it's weight (but maybe not all the family silver)

Three_Dancing_Dragons

Perhaps he should look for a modern apprenticeship. Find a job with an employer willing to pay for his city & guilds so he at least has some security afterwards rather than landing the family with a massive expense. (I had a friend who was a mature age student. She decided the job she wanted and the employer and basically sold them on the idea of an apprenticeship. The company had no previous experience of apprenticeships.)

Andy_L

Looks like there's 2 professional bodies:

Institute of Certified Locksmiths
http://theinstituteofcertifiedlocksmiths.org/

Master Locksmiths Association
http://www.locksmiths.co.uk

Probably the best starting point as part of their job is to promote the career

Andy

danedwrds

too bad, the last post on this forum is from 2007, but I sure hope someone's stilll visitng here. ANyway, I am from Scotland and am looking for a training school near here. How much do they usually charge? Is it better to apprentice instead of going straight to training? I'm relatively new to this industry and I'd like to setup my own business so i hope someone can help me, thanks all!

firesafetyguru

If you are thinking of becoming a locksmith check out this first Lock smith training manual locksmithtraining4u.co.uk

paulofessex

Personaly l would aire on the side of caution before parting with any money via the website mentioned above. The site is incomplete, no contact details apart from a mobile number, although whois via Nominet gives the full name and address of the registrant who by the way is a UK Individual and not a business.

If you ask m you can't learn a skilled trade such as LockSmith by reading emailed documents