Leading lock manufacturer Pickersgill-Kaye Ltd has successfully installed locks at six separate custodial facilities as part of a ground-breaking Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme for the new Two Counties Police Investigation Centres (PICs) in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The new Two Counties PICs, built at Wymondham, Aylsham, Great Yarmouth, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and King’s Lynn at a capital cost of approximately £60million, have some of the most modern security facilities anywhere in the UK and can accommodate police officers, investigators and staff, as well as suspects detained in custody for questioning.
Leeds-based Pickersgill-Kaye were awarded the contract by project contractor Kier Group (part of the Justice Support Services consortium), to fit 146 cell and 232 pass locks on secure doors (manufactured by Cell Security Ltd) at the state-of-the-art detention units after the products were specified by the centres’ FM providers, Reliance Secure Task Management (RSTM), now known as TASCOR, the custody facilities division of Capita.
RSTM specified Pickersgill-Kaye’s products to Kier because of its past experience of their reliability, high performance standards, sector experience and excellent support, which will help guarantee that the Two Counties’ PICs set the standards for efficient policing and detention across the UK.
Kier Contracts Manager, Nick Wright, said: “RSTM spoke very highly of Pickersgill-Kaye’s locks on the Two Counties project, and advised that the door supplier had installed them as RSTM preferred locks. The installation went very well and everyone is happy.”
Like all Pickersgill-Kaye’s custodial locks, the Kaye Class 1 Cell Lock and Class 2 Pass Lock are designed to meet the strict requirements needed for safer prison cells, police custody suites and secure accommodation and include a robust servant and master key management regime to streamline efficiency and heighten security.
Designed and manufactured entirely in the UK, both locks have undergone extensive and challenging testing on key operation, lock construction and overall durability and resistance to attack in order to satisfy the operational requirements of the custodial industry.
The Class 1 Cell Lock is made from a single billet of high quality solid steel and is designed to provide excellent levels of security and high resistance to damage or wear and tear.
The Pickersgill-Kaye pass locks are heavy duty locks with double-sided key operation and have unique design features coupled with robust reliability, ideal for high security applications. The mortise-type lock can be installed in any security door (steel or wood) and features a solid steel main bolt fitted with two hardened roller inserts, a sacrificial brass escutcheon and a steel key cut to code.
Pickersgill-Kaye’s business development manager for security and engineering products, John Moore, added: “TASCOR and the UK Home Office were familiar with our locks from having installed them at the Cleveland Police headquarters in Middlesbrough. We are delighted that this contract further endorses the quality and long-term value of our locks.”
Pickersgill-Kaye’s locks are not only gaining a growing reputation for providing robust and highly effective cell security in the custodial market,
but are also attracting orders from overseas law enforcement agencies, including from Malaysia and more recently the Middle East.
