Union locks · explained · Manchester
Union made half the locks in Manchester. Then the name moved.
Get a price in 2 minutes
Tell us what's happened. We ring you straight back with a fixed price.
- Service £40-70
- Cut to the lock £25-55
- Parts identified free
- 30-60 min
If your house was built in Manchester between roughly 1900 and 1990, there is a fair chance the lock in your door says Union on it. They were one of the big British lock makers, they are still a live brand under Assa Abloy, and the practical consequence for you is that a Union lock could be from any of about eight decades.
Which is why the first question is: how old
| Era | What you have | Parts |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-war | Lever mortice, beautifully made | None. Repair it, cut to it. |
| Post-war to 1980s | Lever mortice, rim nightlatch | Scarce. Usually repairable. |
| 1990s-2000s | Mortice, euro, early multipoint | Some still available |
| Modern | StrongBOLT BS3621, current multipoint | Current. Straightforward. |
The word Union on a faceplate tells you almost nothing on its own. Send us a photo of the lock edge and we will tell you which generation it is and whether a part exists, before you pay anybody for a visit.
The parts question, honestly
People ring asking for a Union part. Sometimes it exists. Often it does not, because the lock is fifty years old and the tooling went decades ago.
That is much less of a problem than it sounds, because old Union lever mortices almost never need a part. They need cleaning. A seized one is a century of dust and dried oil, not a broken mechanism, and a strip and service at £40-70 brings back a lock built better than a £140 replacement.
What people actually need is usually a key, and no kiosk can cut one for a lever lock. We cut to the lock: £25-55. See key cutting.
When the answer really is replacement
- The lock body is cracked
- Levers genuinely broken, not dirty
- Your insurer wants BS3621 and it predates the standard
- Multipoint gearbox sheared, no equivalent available
That third one is the common one, and it is worth being clear: a beautiful pre-war Union lever lock is not BS3621 and never will be, because BS3621 did not exist when it was made. If your policy requires it, the lock has to change however good it is. Union's own modern StrongBOLT range is BS3621 and is a sensible like-for-like, £85-140 fitted.
What it costs
| Job | Price |
|---|---|
| Lever mortice, strip and service | £40-70 |
| Key cut to the lock | £25-55 |
| Rim nightlatch service | £30-55 |
| Rim or euro cylinder swap | £30-60 |
| BS3621 replacement, fitted | £85-140 |
| Multipoint gearbox replacement | £60-120 |
| Photo identification of your lock | free |
Mortice locks · Yale locks · Lock repair
Questions people actually ask
Can you still get parts for an old Union lock?
Sometimes, and often not, because a fifty-year-old lock had its tooling scrapped decades ago. That matters far less than people expect, because old Union lever mortice locks almost never need a part. They need cleaning. A seized one is a century of dust and dried oil rather than a broken mechanism, and stripping and servicing it is £40 to £70 against £140 to replace it with something built worse. What people usually actually need is a key, and no kiosk can cut one for a lever lock, so we cut to the lock for £25 to £55.
How do I know which Union lock I've got?
Send us a photo of the lock edge, with the faceplate visible, and we will tell you for nothing before anybody makes a visit. The word Union on a faceplate covers about eight decades of completely different products: pre-war lever mortices, post-war rim nightlatches, nineties euro and early multipoint, and the current StrongBOLT range. Knowing which generation you have decides whether it is a service, a part, or a replacement, and it takes us thirty seconds from a picture.
My Union lock is lovely but my insurer wants BS3621. What now?
Then the lock has to change, however good it is, and we would rather be straight about that. A pre-war Union lever mortice can be beautifully made and still not be BS3621, simply because the standard did not exist when it was manufactured, and there is no way to certify it retrospectively. If your policy requires BS3621 on that door, an uncertified lock leaves you exposed at claim time. Union's own modern StrongBOLT range is BS3621 and is a sensible like-for-like at £85 to £140 fitted. Keep the old one in a drawer.
Is a Union lock any good?
The old ones are frequently better than what you can buy today, which is why we service them rather than replacing them. British lock making at that period was genuinely excellent and those mechanisms were built to be maintained rather than thrown away. The modern range under Assa Abloy is a perfectly decent mainstream product and the StrongBOLT mortices are BS3621. So the answer is yes at both ends, and the only real question is which decade yours is from.