Hi I’m Ben Gatenby the owner and manager of 1st Defence Locksmiths Leeds. I founded my locksmith company in 2008. I already had quite a lot of locksmith experience by this point working in different disciplines of the locksmith industry. My dad was a locksmith and so I had been around the trade my whole life. At the time my dad didn’t have enough work to employ me though, so I had to look elsewhere.
How it all started
Whilst still at school I managed to get a Saturday job working in a trade supplies shop. This shop was owned by one of my dad’s friends. This shop was half locksmith store and half general trade supplies. Immediately I found I had more of an interest in the locksmith side of things than anything else. This store was open to the trade and public, so half my time was spent dealing with locksmiths and the other half with the public. After leaving school my Saturday job turned into my full time job.
This was such a valuable time for me. During this time I was picking up loads of knowledge from the locksmiths that came into the shop. This was mainly learning all the different lock types and the different makes and models. I think right at the start it used to frustrate them as they would ask me for something, and I didn’t have a clue. It used to annoy me that they would try and get somebody else to serve them, so they didn’t get held up dealing with me. So, I set out to learn as much as I possibly could, so that when they asked for something I knew exactly what they were talking about. Within a year I could speak their locksmith language knowing all the terminology and serve them quickly with the correct parts.
Learning Key Cutting And Becoming A Bench Locksmith
After the first year working on the shop counter, I was finally trusted to have a go at cutting keys. In this shop there was a dedicated key cutter and bench locksmith working in the back room. This key cutter was nearly ready to retire and had been cutting keys and repairing locks on the bench for 40 years. We quickly became friends, and he passed on a huge amount of knowledge to me. Within a few months I had mastered the art of key cutting and had started learning about repairing and rekeying locks on the bench.
Onsite Locksmith
Working out in the field as a locksmith is totally different to working in a shop either serving customers or cutting keys. Once I had mastered the art of lock repairs and key cutting, I was aloud out in the field as a locksmith apprentice. I thoroughly enjoyed this as it involved going out to homes and businesses and repairing, fitting and opening locks. This was a whole other side to the job and it was much faster paced and more dynamic. At the time I couldn’t drive so would ride along with another experienced locksmith teaching me the ropes.
Time To Move On
Whilst working at this locksmith shop my dream opportunity came along. My dad had landed a sizable contract with a big company. He asked if I wanted to go and work for him as a locksmith out in the field. For me this was a dream, I got to work with my dad and do the part of locksmithing that was my favourite, which was on site locksmithing. We had many happy years working together and this was one of the best time periods of my life! Unfortunately, everything comes to an end eventually. The contract ended up going to somebody else and my dad retired so it was time to go alone.
1st Defence Locksmiths Leeds Was Born
I decided to start my own locksmith company and follow in my dad’s footsteps. It was a scary time because at this point I knew the locksmith industry inside out, but I didn’t know how to be self employed or run a business. Luckily, I had the support of my dad who I could turn to when I got stuck. Fast forward 15 years and 1st Defence Locksmiths Leeds is still here going from strength to strength. I’m very proud of what the company has achieved. We have served thousands of customers over the years, and we have lots of repeat customers which means we must be doing something correctly. We have hundreds of reviews online on sites such as Trustpilot, Google And Checkatrade. All of these help to outline the level of customer satisfaction we provide. Hopefully this will continue for at least another 15years and hopefully even more.