Founder · auto locksmith
Rob Tennant
Eleven years in a main dealer workshop before this. Does most of the replacement key work and all of the premium German and Land Rover systems.
Locked out right now? We keep evening and weekend slots free for emergencies. Call 0115 960 4128
Two locksmiths · two vans · since 2017
Who turns up
Who turns up
at your car
The person who answers the phone is one of the two people who might come out, and whoever arrives has cut keys for the same make of car a few hundred times before.
The business, briefly
Since2017 trading from Bulwell, same two people
VansTwo, each carrying a key-cutting machine and programmer
CheckedDBS checked, insured, and members of the Auto Locksmith Association
AnsweredBy one of us, not a switchboard or a booking agent
RefusedAny job where we cannot confirm who owns the car
How it started
A dealer quoted a week
Rob started this after watching a main dealer quote a customer eight days and four hundred pounds for a key that took him fifty minutes in the car park.
He had spent eleven years in a dealership workshop programming keys on the same equipment we carry now. The key was never the slow part. The slow part was the tow to the dealer, the wait for a workshop slot, and ordering a blank from the manufacturer against the VIN.
So he bought a cutting machine and a programmer, put them in a van, and started going to the car instead. Sam joined two years later from a security firm, and brought the immobiliser and ECU work that most mobile locksmiths turn down.
We have deliberately stayed at two. Adding a third van would mean hiring somebody we have not stood next to, and the whole reason people ring us is that whoever arrives knows exactly what they are doing with their car.
Where we draw the line
Four jobs we turn down
Every one of these costs us money to hold to. They are also the reason the police in Nottingham know our name for the right reasons.
No proof, no key
If you cannot show you own the car, we do not open it and we do not cut a key for it. No exceptions for a convincing story, however late it is.
No drilling to save time
Forcing a lock is quicker than opening it properly and it leaves you with a repair bill. We open it, or we explain why we cannot.
No quote on the driveway
The price is agreed on the phone from your registration. If it changes when we see the car, you hear why before we start, and you can say no.
No selling a job we cannot do
A few new premium systems are genuinely dealer-only. We say so on the phone rather than driving out and charging you to find out.
The two of us
Auto locksmith
Sam Okafor
Came from vehicle security. Takes the immobiliser and ECU faults that most mobile locksmiths refuse, and the lockouts nobody else could open.
What is in the van
Auto locksmithing is an equipment trade. This is the kit that decides whether your key gets made at the roadside or the car gets towed somewhere.
Key-cutting machine
Cuts standard, laser and sidewinder blades to the code read from your lock, in the back of the van.
Diagnostic programmer
Talks to the immobiliser through the OBD port. The same class of equipment a dealer workshop uses.
Lock decoders
Read the wafer heights inside a lock without damaging it. This is how a key gets made with no original.
Entry tools
Non-destructive opening for almost any door. The reason we have not drilled a car lock in years.
Extraction kit
Pulls a snapped key out of a door, boot or ignition barrel without having to replace the lock.
Blanks and fobs
A stock of the common transponder blanks and remote shells, so most keys get made there and then.
Where to find us
The unit is a working base rather than a shop, so ring before you set off — the shutter is down whenever both vans are out.
Dispatch
Open now · until 21:00 tonight
Call the van
Unit
Unit 7, Blenheim Court, Blenheim Industrial Estate, Bulwell, Nottingham, NG6 8UP
Hours
Mon–Sat 07:00–21:00
Sunday 09:00–18:00
Sunday 09:00–18:00
One of the two of us will answer
Ring, say what has happened and read us the registration. You will be talking to someone who can actually do the job.
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