A family business that began at home and now operates from a 5,500 sq. ft. premises on Canvey Island, Essex. Currently owned by brothers Lee and Nicky Crossman, DES Locksmiths’ ambitions are to shape the future of controlled access in high rise residential buildings for developers and housing associations.
How did it all begin?
The Journey of DES has been built on strong family foundations. Our father David, started in the late 1960s as an electrical apprentice, but moved to access control working for other businesses until setting up his own in 1986 from the lounge at home – calling it D.E.S. Door Entry Systems, focusing on installation and maintenance of intercom systems. At that time both my parents being ‘the company’, went through the highs and lows of the 1980’s and regularly brought their work home but they persevered and established the strong foundations for what we have today.
Lee left school in the early-1990’s and worked with our Dad, however he went for interviews and eventually started work full time for a Lloyds of London Syndicate in City of London. He occasionally helped at weekends and on holidays with any larger installations. I left school in the mid-1990’s and joined my parents installing, servicing and maintaining intercoms and access control systems mainly in the London area.
In the late 1990’s, we opened a retail premises providing, amongst other things, Locksmith services as it complemented the work we were already doing nicely. My Dad studied and passed the MLA exam. We steadily expanded the locking products and moved into providing master suites for customers like Guinness Trust, Toynbee Housing and Peabody, as well as Castle Point Borough Council.
With the increasing workload, Lee joined full time in 2008 around the time when my mother became ill which prompted my father to semi-retire to care for her and in 2010 we both took over the business establishing DES Locksmiths. Sadly, our mother, Renee passed in 2011.
Over the next few years, we expanded our key suites, offering our clients innovative ideas and new ways of thinking about the security of their buildings with solutions that gave them key management and building access options. Our clients liked the applications, and we found ourselves taking on more staff.
It was always the plan to own our premises, and we had quickly run out of room in the old retail location. So, fast forward to 2019 and despite it being a big commitment, after renting for over 18 years, we made enquiries into an unbuilt premises on the Thamesview 130 Business Park, being created on south-west quarter of Canvey Island. Picture this: [walking over piles of mud with hard-hats and big unfolded sheets of white paper, showing the developers vision for the space]. We agreed a deal for a unit roughly 4 times bigger than our existing location, that was due to completed later in 2020, however due to the Pandemic, it took 3 years to finish our building.
The pandemic years were a strange time for everyone, we didn’t know what the future held when we closed the office on 24th March 2020, but Peabody contacted us and asked us to come back to work as they had a mounting backlog of Fire Risk Assessment work in communal spaces that they needed us to complete. We subsequently had the busiest 2 years we had ever know – 9 members of staff, were completing 1000-1200 jobs per month.
We moved into the unit mid-2023 following 6 months of ‘pure hell’ getting the fit-out organised and quickly filled the ground floor.
Who do you work for?
As well as working with many smaller and medium scale building owners or controllers, we have worked with major organisations such as Guinness Trust and Peabody Housing for over 20 years, many other names you’d recognise Like Sanctuary Housing, Gateway Property Management and Southend City Council. We strive to be at the forefront of improving security access to high-rise residential buildings – specialising in largescale high security master key suites.
The Golden Key
In response to post-Grenfell fire safety concerns, we launched Golden Key Secure (goldenkeysecure.co.uk) to enhance fire brigade access to communal areas, particularly in high-rise buildings. Previously, fire brigade keys (FB) were widely available to purchase, and therefore often misused to gain unauthorised entry. To address this, we developed the Golden Key system, a high security master key that allows fire brigade-controlled access while ensuring each housing controller has its own dedicated key for its buildings.
The initiative is now expanding nationwide. Every fire appliance in London, Essex, Surrey, and Oxfordshire is set to carry a Golden Key, with plans to extend the roll out across areas like Manchester, Coventry, Kent, and Hertfordshire. We’ve also collaborated with the Metropolitan Police and other authorities to establish secure access solutions.
It was Peabody Housing that initially highlighted the urgent need for change when unauthorised individuals were found using drop keys to access buildings. We’ve since converted over 10,000 plus properties to the new system, ensuring secure entry for authorised personnel while preventing misuse.
In March, we will be finalising agreements with the London Fire Brigade, marking the first initiative of its kind in over 30 years. This project represents an unbreakable bond—a golden thread of security—strengthening fire and emergency access protocols across the country.
Products & services
We specialise in all aspects of security driven access control solutions, including Intercoms and fob-controlled entry systems for both the public and commercial sectors. We provide all aspects of locksmith services like cutting keys and supplying locks, but our speciality is largescale key management access solutions, where we manage high security master key suites that service an estimated 50,000+ locks. We are one of the UK’s largest Mul-T-Lock stockists, but we also supply a variety of other high quality security products from ABUS, APECS and EVVA.
What makes you different?
Despite being close brothers, we have taken different routes to arrive here in 2025. Lee initially went to work in the Insurance Industry whereas I’ve only ever worked in and around access control. We are very different characters and take different roles in the business, Lee manages the business administration and the daily Peabody processing, while I oversee works, new projects like the Golden Key and other expansion avenues. This generally gives us two different views of the same situation and we occasionally find ourselves coming from opposite perspectives.
So, we believe what sets us apart is our ability to consider alternatives in our focus on long-term security solutions rather than quick fixes. We truly want our customers to get what they need, so our approach prioritises using the right products which offer durability and first-time fixes. The Golden Key system is a “key” part of our future growth, with a wide range of products to cover numerous applications.
Changes in the locksmith industry
Over the last 10 years, the locksmith industry has changed significantly, with online platforms like Amazon, eBay, and even Screwfix altering buying behaviour. Many consumers now have the tools readily at hand to not only research alternatives but also seek the cheapest options, making it harder for more traditional locksmiths to compete on standard products. As a result, we’ve focused on the specialised lock services such as restricted key cutting, managing master suites as well as complimentary services like fobs, intercoms and wayfinder signage.
The freedom of choice is a big part of modern life, so we have designed the Golden Key to be able to supply our fellow locksmiths with the right products to maintain the connection with their own clients whilst still enjoying the benefit of the fire brigade having the access they need.
Our plans
Looking ahead, together we plan to steadily expand further as our focus remains on innovative locking products, delivering high quality security solutions and staying ahead of industry changes. Investment in our company’s welfare by having the right people to do the job while keeping an eye on efficiencies that will keep us moving forward. We will be launching new products and further investing in complimentary services – we like new products, systems and ideas and we are committed to rolling out the Golden Key nationwide.