UK Enterprise Awards 2021

188 | UK Enterprise Awards 2021 Van Security Specialist of the Year 2021 Established in 1985, Garrison Locks has been acknowledged as the longest established and most recognisable brand for car locks, security and after-marketing van accessories. Run under the guidance of Director Richard Breslin, Garrison Locks provides award-winning installation and nationwide services. For over 35 years, award winning Garrison Locks has been offering installation services for van security locks and aftermarket accessories, says Richard. ‘Alongside the installation service, Garrison Locks also offers (via their web site) a full range of vehicle locking systems, armaplate, protekta-plate and various accessories for self-installation.’ Being in the industry this long is a thought of as a gift. Richard Breslin links his successful career as Director of Garrison Locks to simple core values, attitude and sophisticated and impeccable standards. ‘Our core values are to supply the best security products supported with the highest level of customer service. This is shown with repeat business and our reviews on Trustpilot, our favoured trusted reviews platform.’ Working in such a niche industry market, we asked Richard what differentiates his work and company from other competitors. In essence, what separates Garrison Locks from the rest of the industry? What is his unique selling point that helps him stay at the top of these award-winning services? Richard states, ‘Our ability to act fast to secure vans through our network of approved and qualified van security installers is unmatched. We manufacture and supply the widest range of van security devices, even Ford approved lock systems fitted at dealership level.’ Richard states that there is ‘ever-increasing thefts in vehicles,’ and comments that Garrison Locks can provide the ‘highest quality of services and installation by continually developing to produce maximum protection products.’ The best way to keep developing is to continually address the product or service and follow the trends of the marketplace to keep on top of the product market and of the high standards Garrison Locks is award-winning for. Richard Breslin reflects and notes that ‘common trends are door peeling and spiking/drilling through doors to access the internal mechanisms; allowing access to steal contents.’ Additionally, Richard Breslin states that, ‘our hook locks and anti-drill plates help combat these growing trends.’ Even with the disruption of Covid-19, Garrison Locks has kept upbeat within the industry. Richard says that ‘Covid -19 didn’t deflect our workload, but in fact, increased it due to vehicles being parked up for long periods of time, allowing thieves to attack vans. Our online e-commerce sales increased by over 40% during the pandemic due to tradesmen having more time to self-install lock systems as well.’ Though there will always be a need for securing vehicles in any country, we asked about the UK specifically and whether it provided a benefit to his company. Richard states, ‘The crime rate for vans in the UK is higher than other European countries but having said that, we do ship to Europe and this has increased in the last 18 months.’ It is not without the help of their qualified and specialised members of staff that Richard owes a lot of Garrison Locks success to, so we ask, “how are you able to keep this service to such high standards and what qualities do you look for in a team member?” Richard replies, ‘we continue to train our sales and technical team internally…Keeping our team up to date with new products in development is paramount so they are fully equipped to offer the correct advice to customers and ongoing clients. When recruiting staff, we look at personality, a willingness to help and succeed as the company continues to grow. We are extremely proud of our installations department and customer service team whom we feel are second to none in our industry.’ With good roots grounding the company, Richard and his one-of-a-kind team offer the absolute best in the business and without a doubt hold the highest standard of services and installation in the industry. Where can you go when you’ve already reached the highest standards? We asked Richard about the future of the company and whether he plans on progressing even further into the business. ‘As we continue to grow, we will continue to invest heavily in developing new products, expanding our network of approved qualified installers and keep our e-commerce website up to date with the latest products… We are proud to be the leading retailer online for van security products and accessories with some of our staff trained in over 20 years’ experience in E-commerce. Due to the ever-increasing success of our online sales, Garrison Locks have employed the services of Visualsoft, Europe’s leading e-commerce specialists who have helped grow Garrison into a million-pound company. We are extremely excited to have a proposed launch date in or around Q2/Q3 2021.’ Ambition is certainly not lacking for Richard and we wish him every bit of success that we know he and his company deserves for being the longest established and most recognised, award-winning service nationwide. Contact: Richard Breslin Company: Garrison Locks limited Web Address: http://www.garrisonlocks.co.uk Email: [email protected] Address: Garrison locks ltd George House Nithsdale ave Market Harborough Leicestershire LE16 9PE May21163