Commercial locksmith
Commercial Locksmith in Wilmslow
Call with your postcode for a current arrival estimate.
- 24-hour emergency cover
- No call-out charge
- Price agreed before work starts
When a Business Cannot Open, Every Hour Counts
For a business, a failed lock is a trading problem: a shop that cannot open loses the day's takings, and an office that cannot be secured cannot be left. Craven Locksmiths Wilmslow works on business premises across Wilmslow, from a door that will not open at eight in the morning to a lock change after closing, 24 hours a day with no call-out charge.
Jobs are fitted around your trading hours, not across them, so the first question is when you need to be open.
What Businesses Call Us About
Five situations cover the bulk of what businesses ring us about. Follow the link under each one for the page that explains the work, and you will know what to expect before you call.
Being locked out of the premises
A key snapped in the lock at the start of the day, a keyholder who will not pick up, or simply nobody able to open up. We normally get the door open without damaging it, so the lock you already have keeps working.
Someone has broken into the premises
Forced shutters, a damaged entrance, or premises you cannot secure until the police have finished. Once the police say work may begin, making the place secure comes first, followed by repairing what can be repaired and boarding up what cannot.
A member of staff has left with keys
No household has to deal with this. With keys unaccounted for after a departure, new cylinders on every door that person had access to are the only certain answer. Those old keys will open the door for whoever has them. The work takes less time than replacing the entire lock because the lock cases and handles are usually left in place.
A lock upgrade required by insurance or a lease
Your commercial cover or lease may set a lock standard for the entrance, generally straightforward to meet once you know exactly what is asked.
The entrance door failed
A lock that will not engage, a handle gone loose, a mechanism worn through by heavy daily use. The door itself is often sound, with a single component at fault.
Why a Domestic Lock Is Not a Commercial Lock
Commercial doors are specified with heavier-duty cylinders, handles and closers for one simple reason: they are worked far harder. Where a door at home might be opened a dozen times a day, a shop or office entrance can see several hundred openings. Hardware that would last for years on a house wears quickly under that kind of use.
That is the main difference, and it has a cost attached. A domestic-grade part on a trading entrance fails early, and each failure means another call-out and another interruption.
The doors themselves are often different too. Commercial premises commonly have:
- Panic bars or push pads on escape doors, letting people out from inside without a key.
- Shopfront doors in aluminium, which need lock cases and cylinders unlike those in uPVC or timber doors.
- A set of doors keyed to a plan, one key opening several and another opening only one.
- Coverage for the frontage outside business hours through roller shutters and shutter locks.
Pick hardware for the traffic and the door simply works; pick it for the price and you keep paying. It helps to tell us what the door is made from and what hardware is on it now.
Premises That We Work On
Business premises vary a great deal, and the list of places we work on reflects that.
Retail
shops and retail units, including shopfronts and shutters.
Hospitality
pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants.
Offices
offices and professional premises.
Industrial
units, workshops and storage.
Public-facing services
schools, surgeries, salons and community buildings.
Property
landlords and managing agents letting commercial units.
Each brings its own mix of doors, from aluminium shopfronts to escape routes, so tell us what kind of building it is when you get in touch.
Key Control for When Staff Change
Here is a question a homeowner rarely needs to ask: who actually has a key to our door? For a business with a dozen staff and a handful of keys, the answer drifts over time. Keys are lent, keys are copied, and keys are not always returned. Once someone leaves on bad terms, or simply hangs on to theirs, you are left not knowing who can open up.
Changing the cylinder on each affected door is the fix. All of the existing keys are retired together, and that is what restores certainty, because old keys keep working regardless of who is holding them. Most businesses anticipate more time and expense than the job involves, as it usually leaves the lock case and handles in place. Cylinders can be keyed alike if a set of doors needs to run on one key. During your call, enquire about keyed-alike options to reduce the number of keys in circulation; we will explain which arrangements are practical for your doors. Keep a simple note of keyholders from then on, which costs nothing.
Work Scheduled Around Your Trading Hours
Most businesses would rather have a lock changed at six in the evening than at eleven in the morning with customers in the shop. Because emergency cover runs 24 hours a day anyway, planned work does not have to land in the middle of trading. Booking a cylinder replacement, a new stockroom door lock or a replacement shutter lock for before the shop opens or after it closes keeps the shop floor free from disruption and ensures customers never see a locksmith at the door. That applies to planned jobs as much as to emergencies, so mention your trading pattern when you call. Work outside Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, is charged at a higher rate, but the call-out itself is never charged and you hear the price on the call.
Fire Doors and Escape Routes
A lock that needs a key to get out has no place on a fire exit. Escape-route doors must open from inside without one, which is why they use keyless hardware on the inside, a thumbturn, push pad or panic bar, with the outside kept locked. BS 8621, the British Standard for lock assemblies with keyless egress, uses that inside thumbturn in place of a key both sides; panic hardware is governed by its own standards. Your fire risk assessment and the way the building is used determine what a particular door requires, so check it first. Fitting locks is part of our work; certifying a building's fire compliance is not.
Locksmith pricing
How Much Does a Commercial Locksmith Cost?
Ask what a commercial locksmith costs and the honest answer is that it depends on the door, the scale and the timing. Specifically:
Price is explained before attendance, and no call-out charge applies. You pay for the work carried out, any parts needed, and VAT. Rates outside Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm, are higher, but the call-out itself is never charged.
Whatever the problem, from premises you cannot open to an entrance that will not secure or a planned repair, replacement or security upgrade, the first step is a call. We cover emergencies 24 hours a day. In an emergency, give your business postcode and a short account of the problem. When arranging a planned job, give us your operating hours and details of the affected door or lock to discuss the work needed and possible appointments.
Door type.
A timber door uses parts that differ from those fitted to aluminium shopfront doors, shutters and composite doors.
Number of doors and cylinders.
A full key change across a unit involves far more cylinders than a single lock.
Required standard.
Some insurers and leases name a lock standard.
Urgency and timing.
Is it urgent, or booked outside trading hours?
Locksmith pricing
Invoicing and the Paperwork
Once the work is done, the paperwork should be the easy part. To allow processing by your accounts department and support an insurance claim if needed, we provide you with an itemised VAT invoice setting out details of the work, the premises and any hardware fitted. Running several sites? Work at each can be invoiced in the way your accounts team prefers, together or separately. Tell us how you want it split and we will follow it.
What affects the cost?
Service required, time of attendance, lock and door type, labour and parts.
Commercial Locksmith Work Across Wilmslow
Shops, offices, industrial units and managed premises across Wilmslow are all within our work.
Business coverage is about premises and access, not housing. Every postcode in SK9 is covered, whether the unit is by Wilmslow station or along Alderley Road, Altrincham Road, Adlington Road, Birrell Way or Bollin Link. Business customers around Hilltop, Lacey Green, Finney Green and Chorley are served on the same terms. The built-up area had around 25,700 usual residents at the 2021 Census (ONS), and Wilmslow Park, Fulshaw Park and Pownall Park are mostly houses, so work there tends to be the occasional shop or small unit among homes.
Urgent jobs are taken at any hour; planned work can be arranged before opening or after closing.
Emergency and planned locksmith services
Call Craven Locksmiths Wilmslow
If you cannot open or secure the premises, ring now. For planned work, give us the door and your trading hours and we will agree a time.
01625 351018 · Contact us
After a break-in at the premises, report it to Cheshire Constabulary on 101 or online at https://www.cheshire.police.uk and get a crime reference before you claim.
01625 351018
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you come out before we open?
Our emergency availability includes the hours before your business opens, every day of the year. Tell us your trading hours as part of arranging a visit. If a lockout or entrance failure prevents opening, explain that urgent problem on the call.
A member of staff has left and not returned their keys. What now?
Fit new cylinders to each door they were able to access. That is the only way to be certain, because a mechanical key cannot be switched off and the old keys keep working whoever holds them. Because the existing lock cases and handles are normally retained, replacing the cylinders takes less time than replacing the entire lock. Where several doors need to stay on one key, the new cylinders can usually be keyed alike.
Are commercial locks different from the ones on a house?
Yes, mainly in how hard they are worked. Commercial cylinders, handles and closers are specified for heavier use because a shop entrance might open hundreds of times a day, compared with a dozen for a front door at home. Domestic hardware wears out quickly on that traffic, and the real cost is the repeat call-outs rather than the part. There is also hardware required for shopfronts, shutters and escape doors that is never needed in a house.
Do you work on aluminium shopfront doors?
Yes. Shopfront and office doors are frequently made of aluminium rather than uPVC or timber, and they need their own lock cases and cylinders. Let us know on the call what the door is, so we turn up with the right parts; the door type also affects how much time the job needs on site.
Our insurance says we need a particular lock standard. Can you help?
Yes. A named lock standard on the entrance is a common condition in commercial insurance and leases, and it is usually a straightforward requirement to meet. What matters is knowing exactly which standard the document names, since "insurance approved" varies from one policy to the next. Send us the wording so the lock is right first time rather than fitted twice.
Can you do work across more than one of our sites?
Yes. Work can be carried out at each of your premises and invoiced to suit your accounts, whether that means per job, per site or something else. Start by telling us how many sites are involved and how you would like it arranged; that way the visits are planned, not attended one at a time.
Will we get a proper invoice for our accounts?
Yes, a proper itemised VAT invoice. It describes the work done, identifies the premises and lists the hardware fitted, giving your accounts the detail they need and giving you a clear record for an insurance claim. Ask on the call if your accounts team needs it arranged a particular way.
Our fire exit door needs a new lock. What do we need?
Something that lets people out without a key: that is the requirement for locks on an escape route. BS 8621 sets the standard for keyless egress using a thumbturn on the inside, and panic bars and push pads have their own standards. Because the right answer depends on your fire risk assessment and the use of the premises, check those first and tell us the outcome when you call.
Still have a question or need urgent assistance? Call 01625 351018, tell us what has happened and receive a current arrival estimate.