DAYMOND Halsall entered the locksmith business in 1996 at age 24, and has stayed to this day, mainly because of how the business has evolved.

He is the owner and operator of Egis Security Limited, an electronic security, automotive and commercial locksmith company, which offers security services as well as services in automotive key programming, duplicating or key cutting and originating keys when all are lost, which is using a code machine with settable depths and space locations to produce a working key with the general cut equal to an original factory cut key.

Though he operates more on the commercial side of the business, Halsall decided to share some insight into the locksmith career.

Who is a locksmith?

A locksmith is an individual who in essence can make and repair locks. Services include key cutting, which we do by coding, and that gives you a high degree of accuracy, just as accurate as a factory cut key. However, now the business is more on the technical than the mechanical side.

What is the value of the work that you do?

It is a business that requires a high level of integrity, because people are able to defeat lock sets — they cheat security systems. You have to keep yourself free from a criminal record and bad standing. You must be a reputable individual.

It is a business that requires a high level of integrity, because people are able to defeat lock sets — they cheat security systems. You have to keep yourself free from a criminal record and bad standing. You must be a reputable individual.

What was it that prompted your entry into the field?

My dad started in the 70s at Lock Safe and Vault, which is his company. Many of my competitors used to work for my father. Usually it would have been a case where the skill was passed down from a family member or you worked at a locksmith shop and gained experience.

What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?

What are the challenges that you face on the job?

Collecting can be risky. You have people who don’t want to pay you the agreed cost and you’re not in a position to argue. The nature of the business is that keys get spoilt and that’s our loss. You end up losing goods and you’re not able to collect unless you find a next key and do the job. It is continuous expense and spending. The downside is that we spend money we can’t recoup right away. One tool may cost up to 1400 Euros and that tool only makes money when work comes in. The software we use to programme different keys will change and we have to keep updating it. Regulation would be good.

What are the skills and competences required for the field?

You have to be able to read and understand as the business is not very mechanical anymore. When I started in 1996 every car key was mechanical so all you had to have was mechanical skills. It’s a business that the profitable side is no longer mechanical. Yes, you have to cut the keys, but you programme and learn the technical aspect also, as it has changed radically from when I started.