Shop security · Greater Manchester · 24/7
Your shop is designed to let strangers in. Start there.
Get a price in 2 minutes
Tell us what's happened. We ring you straight back with a fixed price.
- Invoiced accounts
- Out of hours, no extra
- We answer at 6am
- £1m public liability
Every other page on this site is about keeping people out of a building. A shop is the opposite: you spend money persuading strangers to walk in, you leave the door open, and you are delighted when they come. Which means shop security is not about the front door at all. It is about two specific moments and one specific door.
The two moments
Closing time
Everything that protects you happens in ninety seconds at the end of a long day, by whoever is on last, usually the newest member of staff. Shutter down, locked, alarm set, back door checked. The system has to be simple enough to survive being done badly.
Opening time
Half seven, in the rain, with a delivery due. A seized shutter lock is a day's takings. Shutter locks →
The one door
The back door, into the stock room.
Nobody walks in the front and takes your stock. They walk in the back, from a service yard or a ginnel that nobody overlooks, into a room with everything in it. That door is usually the original, on whatever lock came with the unit, and it is the only door in the building that is doing actual security work.
Check three things: is it BS3621 or a decent commercial lock, does the frame have a reinforced keep, and does your commercial policy say anything about it. Most do.
Keys and the staff problem
Retail turns over staff faster than any other trade we work with. Seasonal, students, someone who lasted three weeks. Every one of them had a key.
| How often do people leave? | What you want |
|---|---|
| Rarely. Same two staff for years. | Master key system, £45-75/door |
| A few times a year | Restricted keys. Kiosks cannot copy them. £85-140/door |
| Constantly | Fobs. Deleting one is free. |
The restricted key point is the important one for retail. A standard shop key is copied at a kiosk in three minutes for three pounds by a member of staff you will never suspect, and you will never know. A restricted key physically cannot be.
Check your policy on the shutter
Commercial policies frequently specify shutter security: a minimum padlock rating, or closed shackle, or a particular lock type. An open shackle padlock is nine seconds with croppers and a lot of insurers say so explicitly. If yours requires closed shackle and you have open shackle, you are paying premiums for cover that will be argued. See insurance work.
We work around your trading
Out of hours costs the same as any other time, which means a shutter, a master key rollout or new locks can happen on a Sunday morning for what a Tuesday afternoon costs. Most disruption to a small shop is avoidable and almost nobody offers to avoid it. Business accounts invoiced.
What it costs
| Job | Price |
|---|---|
| Shutter bullet lock, replaced | £55-95 |
| Shopfront cylinder | £45-90 |
| Back door, commercial-grade lock | £65-140 |
| Closed shackle padlock and hasp | £45-90 |
| Master key system, per door | £45-75 |
| Restricted key system, per door | £85-140 |
| Out-of-hours lockout | £65-110 |
| Make safe after forced entry | £90-220 |
Commercial locksmith · Warehouse locks · Panic bars
Questions people actually ask
What's the weakest point on a shop?
The back door into the stock room, almost always. Nobody walks in the front and takes your stock: they come in the back, from a service yard or a ginnel nobody overlooks, into a room with everything in it. That door is usually the original one on whatever lock came with the unit, and it is the only door in the building genuinely doing security work. Check whether it is BS3621 or a decent commercial lock, whether the frame has a reinforced keep, and what your policy says about it, because most say something.
Staff keep leaving with keys. What's the fix?
Restricted keys, if it is a shop. A standard key is copied at a kiosk in three minutes for three pounds by a member of staff you will never suspect, and you will never find out, so rekeying every time someone leaves is treating the symptom forever. A restricted profile uses patented blanks only we can supply, so a kiosk physically cannot copy it, and every cut is logged against your authorised list. £85 to £140 per door once. If staff churn constantly, fobs are better again, because deleting one is free.
What actually protects a shop, if the front door is open all day?
Two moments and one door. Closing time, which is ninety seconds at the end of a long day done by whoever is on last, usually the newest member of staff, which means the system has to be simple enough to survive being done badly. Opening time, when a seized shutter lock costs you a day's takings. And the back door into the stock room, which is the only door in the building doing real security work, because nobody walks in the front and takes your stock. Everything else is theatre.
Can you do the work without closing the shop?
Yes, and it costs the same. There is no out-of-hours rate and no weekend surcharge, so a shutter, a master key rollout or a set of new locks can happen on a Sunday morning for what a Tuesday afternoon costs. Most disruption to a small shop is completely avoidable and almost nobody offers to avoid it. Business accounts are invoiced rather than paid on the day.