I don’t know what it’s like for other small business owners, but when I go on holiday, I find it really hard to just switch off for two weeks. Apart from worrying about letting people down, I look at doors and the locks they hold.

So while we, as a family were tromping all around Rome on our latest getaway, my family were taking in the sights while I had one eye on the security features as well. In previous jobs, I have travelled around Europe a fair bit and always felt a bit proud that here in the UK, we produced the British Standard Euro Cylinder. Euro Cylinders are the locks that go in any door where you have to lift the handle before locking. Since becoming a locksmith and installing these locks, my visits to Europe have seen nothing like the British Standard ones anywhere else. Indeed our own insurance industry has failed to make them compulsory. Despite years of burglars snapping, picking and drilling the standard style Euro cylinders with ease (You Tube has plenty of helpful demonstrations), and despite campaigns from the locksmithing industry, the police and others, only a tiny fraction of people have the British Standard locks that are a proven deterrent to burglary. But at least we had some.

Well, no longer am I proud of our achievement. Italy certainly, has embraced a better level of security, or at least the areas I saw have, and we travelled a lot in our two weeks away. At least half the cylinders I saw were of our own British kite mark level.

Crime is rising in our own country. Safe villages are now being hit by burglaries. When was the last time you assessed your home security. Why not book a free security check. There is no obligation when a locksmith does your security check, but there can be a high price when a burglar does the same check without asking permission. Kite marked cylinders come in several security levels now to suit most pockets.

If you would like any more information, please get in touch via any of the methods on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading.