This month we caught up with The Locksmith Training School Merseyside ran by David Mitchell and Jackie Denning, in St Helens. They train all who are interested in learning about the locksmith trade, not just in the North West; people come from all over the world, furthest so far has been Australia! Training is one-to-one and offers a hands-on approach at a dedicated training centre that features 14 external full doors for budding locksmiths to practise on as part of the course.
UPDATE: David unfortunately suffered a stroke in October last year and asked us to inform our readers that he’s doing fine and is back training again. They also have exciting news to share: David and Jackie are due to get married in June this year. Jackie commented: “Life is just too short, so we decided to finally tie-the-knot! We will be getting married at our favourite holiday destination: Icmeler in Turkey. Hopefully, David will leave his lockpicks at home this time as he’s previously trained hotel maintenance teams while on holiday!”
How did you get into locksmith training?
David told us: “We set up The Locksmith Training School in 2010, before that I worked at Manchester University as an in-house locksmith and an opportunity came up to do some training in Darwen. It was only a few sessions, but I really enjoyed it and so my passion for locksmith training begun! I had been a joiner all my working life (30+ years) and always loved working with locks, I did call-outs and also enjoyed the technical aspects of working with locks. In total I have been training for over 14 years and I thoroughly enjoy it.”
Who do you train?
Jackie told us “We offer training to anyone who wishes to learn about locksmithing and students have come to us from all over the world. It could be someone interested in adding locksmithing as an additional service to their business, or someone who is changing career completely, we have also trained teams working for housing associations and maintenance teams throughout the North West and North Wales.”
What training programmes are on offer?
“The training courses on offer are available to fit around your existing work commitments and held at our dedicated, purpose-built, training centre in St Helens. The training is one-to-one, face-to-face and hands-on (not classroom based). We have 14 doors for students to practise picking locks, taking locks out and putting them back.
We offer a 3-day course for those with some experience of locksmithing and a 4 day course for those with little or no experience.”
Courses on offer:
- Learn to become a locksmith in 3 days!
- 3 Star Euro locks
- The New ABS tool that opens ABS locks in seconds
- The Ultion pick, superior pick – we use them all
- G J Locks mortice lock decoders
Free essential toolkit to take away
“Everyone who completes a 3- or 4-day training course receives a full basic Locksmith Toolkit designed to enable them to continue their locksmith training after the course and setup on their own. The kit comprises a high quality 13-piece professional lockpicks set, cam turner, hard plate drill bits, snapper tool, tension wrenches, key extractors, locksmith mica, key turners, door opening tools, bump keys, washers/grommets, set of 3 lever mortice lock picks and tension tools.”
Ready to take bookings
Jackie takes care of all the administration tasks for the business including taking and organising the training sessions. They are currently offering a discount to all Locksmith Journal readers! Contact David or Jackie for more information.
Promotional box – FREE Locksmith Toolkit as part of the course
Reader discount – code: LJ0324
Testimonials
The Locksmith Training School is proud of the testimonials it has received from previous trainees. Jackie commented: “This is what our previous trainees have told us:”
“I had a fantastic 4-day training course with David. I had no previous knowledge of locksmithing, but from start-to-finish everything was expertly shown and explained by David with his wealth of knowledge and expertise. A great variety of tools were included in the course as well as literature and names of suppliers etc. I had a look at a few courses but what stood out to me was that this course was one-to-one with David which appealed to me rather than a classroom-based course with other people. I would also like to mention that David is on hand to help whenever you need it. I would highly recommend this training course.” Antony James Read
“Just to say thank you for the knowledge passed on during my training course last week. I come from a construction background but the locksmith course gave me the confidence to take on locksmith work. I have already contacted one of the companies on your list and will be taking on some sub-contract work next week. Knowledge is everything and David passed on his skills so I could understand and take it all in without feeling overwhelmed. I would recommend David’s course to anyone as the one-to-one tuition is like gold dust and I have taken away more from this course than any other training course I have taken in construction.” Paul Wilson
Come as a trainee, leave as a friend
Jackie says “We’ve received so many compliments about how friendly and hands-on our training is. We like to stay in-touch with everyone who attends as much as we can and support them throughout their journey into locksmithing. Dave is always here at the end of the phone. We get a lot of trainees coming back to us to learn about the new tools and the latest hacks. We can even show them how to make their own 5 lever wire lock picks! We are proud to offer the one and only locksmith training course that fully equips anyone who wants to becoming a locksmith.”
Contact Dave / Jackie on: 01744 613202 / 07711626914