Commercial locksmith
Commercial Locksmith in Hastings
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 home, a failed lock is a security problem. For a business it is a trading problem. B.T Locksmiths Hastings works on business premises across Hastings, from a shop that cannot open in the morning to a planned lock change after hours.
A shop that cannot open loses a day's takings, and an office that cannot be secured cannot be left, so these jobs are scheduled around trading rather than through it. Emergency calls are taken 24 hours a day with no call-out charge; see emergency locksmith for urgent cover.
What Businesses Call Us For
Nearly every commercial enquiry we take falls into one of five groups. Each group below links to a page that explains the work in detail, so you know what you are calling about before you dial.
Locked out of your premises
The keyholder is unreachable, nobody can open up, or someone has snapped a key in the lock first thing. In the majority of cases the door is opened without damage and the existing lock keeps working afterwards.
A lease or insurance requires a lock upgrade
A commercial policy or a lease can set a lock standard for the entrance. It is usually straightforward when you know exactly what that paperwork asks for.
A member of staff has left with the keys
Unlike the others here, this is a situation a household never meets. With keys unaccounted for after a departure, changing the cylinders on each door the person had access to is the only route to certainty, since old keys carry on working for anyone who has one. The handles and lock cases usually stay, which makes it quicker than a full replacement.
The entrance door has failed
Handles go loose, mechanisms wear out under daily traffic and the door stops locking. The door is often sound with one component at fault.
The premises were broken into
Shutters forced open, the entrance door damaged, the unit unsecurable until the police are finished. The priority is securing the premises; after that we repair what can be repaired and board what cannot be.
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.
Why a Commercial Lock Is Not a Domestic Lock
How hard a lock is worked is the biggest difference between a commercial entrance and a domestic one. On a busy day a shop or office door may be opened several hundred times; the front door of a home sees a dozen. Fittings that cope well on a house wear out quickly on a trading door, which explains why commercial entrances are given heavier-duty cylinders, handles and closers.
Beyond the workload, commercial entrances come in forms most homes never have:
| Entrance type | What sets it apart |
|---|---|
| Aluminium shopfront door | Takes different lock cases and cylinders from uPVC or timber |
| Roller shutter | Shutter locks protect the frontage outside trading hours |
| Escape door | Panic bars or push pads open from inside without a key |
| Doors keyed to a plan | One key opens several doors, another opens only one |
Under-specify and you pay more than once, in repeat call-outs and in disruption to trade. Specify for the traffic and the door just does its job. Tell us what your door is made of and what is currently fitted, and we can talk it through.
Work Scheduled Around Trading Hours
Picture a lock change at eleven in the morning with customers walking past the open door, then picture the same job at six in the evening after you have shut. Most businesses choose the second, and because our cover is 24 hours, they can. Planned work such as a cylinder change, a stockroom door lock or a shutter lock replacement can be scheduled before opening or after closing, keeping the shop floor undisturbed and the locksmith out of your customers' sight. This works for scheduled jobs as much as for emergencies, so say what your opening hours are when you call. Evenings, weekends and bank holidays are charged at the higher rate, but you never pay a call-out charge and you know the price before work starts.
Premises on Which We Work
These are the kinds of business premises we work on:
- Pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés
- Shops and retail units, with their shopfronts and shutters
- Workshops, industrial units and storage
- Offices and professional premises
- Surgeries, schools, salons and community buildings
- Commercial units to let, on behalf of landlords and managing agents
The building type shapes the job as much as the lock does, because a salon door and the door of a storage unit are worked very differently. Mention which you have when you call.
Invoicing and the Paperwork
For a business, the invoice matters almost as much as the job. Yours will be an itemised VAT invoice describing what was done, at which premises, and any hardware that went in. That level of detail is what an accounts department expects, and it is the record an insurer will want to see if you are making a claim. Where you have more than one site, the work can be invoiced however your accounts department prefers: one invoice per job, one per site, or another split that suits you. Just tell us how you want it arranged.
Commercial Locksmith Work Across Hastings
We work on shops, offices, industrial units and managed premises across Hastings.
Cover takes in every postcode in TN34, TN38, TN37 and TN35 and the parts of TN33 around Hastings, with Old Town, West Hill, St Leonards Green, Hollington, Bohemia and Broomgrove among the districts we work in, across a built-up area of around 91,800 usual residents (Census 2021, ONS). Around St Leonards Green, West Hill and Old Town there is a high share of flats (Census 2021, ONS, output areas within 700 m), so on a commercial job we check who holds the keys and who is responsible for the door.
If a break-in has damaged the premises, report it to Sussex Police on 101 or at https://www.sussex.police.uk and keep the crime reference; if someone may still be inside, call 999. See all areas we cover.
Locksmith pricing
Fire Doors and Routes of Escape
Keyless exit is the rule for escape routes: anyone inside must be able to get out without a key. That is normally achieved with a thumbturn, a push pad or a panic bar on the inside, leaving the outside locked against entry. The British Standard for lock assemblies offering keyless egress is BS 8621, which relies on an inside thumbturn rather than a key on each side, and panic hardware has separate standards. Which of these suits a given door is set by the premises' fire risk assessment and its use, so it pays to check before altering an escape route. We should be clear that we do not certify any building's fire compliance.
What affects the cost?
Service required, time of attendance, lock and door type, labour and parts.
Locksmith pricing
Commercial Locksmith: What Does It Cost?
Do you need to regain access to your Hastings premises, deal with an entrance that will not lock, or arrange a lock repair, replacement or security upgrade? The cost depends mostly on four things:
The fixed points: no call-out charge, and the expected price explained to you before attendance. 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.
When making an emergency call, briefly describe the situation and provide your business postcode. For planned work, let us know the door or lock affected and your operating hours, and we will go through the requirements and appointment options with you.
What the door is.
Parts required for aluminium shopfronts, shutters and composite doors differ from those needed for a timber door.
How much is involved.
The number of doors and cylinders, a full key change across a unit being the larger end.
What standard is required.
Your insurer or your lease may specify one.
When it happens.
Urgent work, or work booked outside trading hours.
Emergency and planned locksmith services
Call B.T Locksmiths Hastings
Call for urgent attendance when you cannot open or secure the premises, or book work outside trading hours when it can wait. There is no call-out charge, the price is agreed before work begins, and invoices are itemised with VAT.
- Phone: 01424 571056
01424 571056
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you come out before we open?
Yes, an urgent entrance problem before opening is covered by our all-day, all-night emergency service throughout the year. Pass on the times your business trades when booking. Work outside trading can avoid having it take place in front of customers.
A member of staff has left and not returned their keys. What now?
Replace the cylinders on each door that person could open. There is no way to disable a mechanical key, so as long as the old cylinders are fitted, the old keys work for anyone holding them. Handles and lock cases normally remain, which keeps the job quicker than new locks throughout. If a set of doors should share one key, the replacement cylinders can usually be keyed alike.
Are commercial locks different from the ones on a house?
Yes, and the main reason is use. A Hastings shop entrance might be opened hundreds of times a day, while a front door at home is used a dozen times, so commercial cylinders, handles and closers are made for heavier work. Domestic parts wear out quickly under that load, and the repeated call-outs cost more than the part. Some hardware needed for shopfronts, shutters and escape doors is also never used in a house.
Do you work on aluminium shopfront doors?
Yes, aluminium shopfronts are a common part of commercial work. They differ from uPVC and timber doors in the lock cases and cylinders they take, so it helps to know the door type in advance. Say what the door is made of when you call; that way the right parts arrive with the technician, and the time on site is easier to judge.
Our insurance says we need a particular lock standard. Can you help?
Yes. Insurers and landlords of Hastings business premises often write a lock standard for the entrance into the policy or lease. Once you know precisely what the document names, it is usually a straightforward job. Send the wording over if you can: "insurance approved" varies between policies, and fitting the right lock once is better than fitting twice.
Can you do work across more than one of our sites?
Yes. Multi-site businesses can have work done at each of their premises, with invoicing set up to suit their accounts, whether per site or together. The useful thing is to tell us up front how many properties there are and how you would like it arranged, so the work is planned rather than attended piecemeal.
Will we get a proper invoice for our accounts?
Yes. Expect an itemised VAT invoice that describes the work, records the premises and lists any hardware fitted. It is suitable for your accounts department and for an insurance claim, so you should not need to ask for anything further.
Our fire exit door needs a new lock. What do we need?
It must let people out without a key. The usual route is a lock to BS 8621, the standard for keyless egress, with a thumbturn on the inside, though panic bars or push pads follow their own standards. Which one your door needs comes down to the building's fire risk assessment and how the premises are used. Check that before anything is changed, and pass on what it says when you call.
Still have a question or need urgent assistance? Call 01424 571056, tell us what has happened and receive a current arrival estimate.