Our background, 1958-2002.

Company founder Stephen Underwood was born in Tilehurst, Reading on the 23rd October 1958 to parents Roy and Silvia Underwood. Following his secondary education at Highdown School he began an apprenticeship at E. Smith & Co (Locksmiths), in 1973 aged 15. The company (who would later be known as simply Smiths Security Services) were established in 1850 and at the time were the oldest locksmiths in Reading. From their shop located at 84 London Street in Reading is where his career as a Master Locksmith would begin.

Stephen worked quickly through his apprenticeship training and in turn worked his way up the company ladder to be named as one of the company directors in 1996. At this point the firm had shops in Swindon, Reading, Oxford and High Wycombe as well as a large number or prestigious contracts including Thames Water, Windsor Castle and USAF Greenham Common (near Newbury).

In late 1999 and after a highly successful career with Smiths, Stephen left the firm to join one of Britain’s most prestigious security companies. In the years following his departure, Smith’s fortunes declined rapidly, after a number of takeovers the valued staff left and the company folded. 20 years later Smiths Security services would re-emerge in our company’s story.

After four successful years with Banham security in Maidenhead, that witnessed his area make record sales of any location outside of London, Stephen made the decision to set up his own company.

The Beginning of Abbey Gate locksmiths, 2003-2017

On January 15 2003, DPS (who would become Abbey Gate) was officially founded. For the first few years the jobs were mostly domestic lock changes and alarms althow the company was oftern used for safe and vault work by other locksmiths. At the time DPS had no advertising with the exception of Facebook, Thanks to word of mouth as time progressed our reputation grew.

One of the biggest assets for the company has been Elain Francis who’s input, and advice has helped shape and streamline the administration side of the business. Without her it is unlikely Abbey Gate would have enjoyed the level of success achieved.

In 2004 a developer became our first contract client. The customer required a key that they couldn’t get from the high street. Impressed with our service we became their locksmith of choice. 21 years later in 2025 the developer is still one of our biggest customers.

By late 2004 the decision was made that DPS didn’t fit the brand or image we wanted for the business. After some thought we selected Abbey Gate locksmiths and security engineers as a replacement and chose the 15th of January 2005, as the launch date. This was to coincide with the formation of the company two years earlier. The name was chosen to honour the famous Abbey ruins that can be found in Reading town center.

Over the next 11 years the number of domestic clients remained stable, it was contract customers that really propelled the company to where it is today. Word of mouth within the housing and maintenance industries gave us a solid base to build on.

In 2010 our expansion forced us to move our workshops temporally to a Unit at the LinPack Building in Woodley. The Building was formerly part of the Miles Aircraft factory.

2010 also saw the arrival of Stephens son Alexander. In the early days of the company his main aim was to build the companies website and develop a marketing strategy. Along side this he could also be found in the workshop, offices and on the road fitting locks!

By 2013 the work to expand the Caversham lock and safe works was complete and we moved back home. The LinPack buildings have now been demolished and developed for housing.

In 2016 the development of the company continued. With the old silver Mercedes showing its age it was replaced with our first sign written van. This small move provided us with our first visible presents on the road. Today all the vehicles used are fully sign written.

In the same year we also added our free online museum to share our massive collection of antique locks, safes and collectables. The collection has been built up throughout Stephen and Alex’s career and grows bigger every year. Sadley its too big to fully display.

Today an average of 730 people visit the page from around the world each year.

Time to expand our locksmiths, 2018-2019

On the 11th May 2018 our first apprentice was employed. The apprentice had already undergone training as both a locksmith and a carpenter. The employment of our first locksmith helped lighten the load in East Berkshire, but it wasn’t enough. So, on the 6th September 2019 Ben Prozzo, our second new locksmith was employed. Like our Maidenhead engineer he was already a fully qualified carpenter and straight away began full in house locksmith training.

“Kerry” was also added to the team. Kerry is our first Brass furnace and instantly boosted our ability to produce bespoke products. A mill and lathe were also added to the workshop.

If that wasn’t enough, more news was to come…

The break up of Smith in 2011 was almost the end of a fantastic company with an amazing history. New investors did not see this and began to take the company down a path of destruction.

As the company disintegrated it was split in half. The alarm and access control division was sold to a multinational company. The locksmiths remained in London Street but was sold to a company in Essex. It didnt take long for Abbey Gate to be called in to repossess the locksmiths. Years later another Reading locksmiths, Early locks, would also disapear into history.

Abbey Gate did not want this proud company to end and in August 2012 what was left of Smith’s locksmith department was acquired by Alexander Underwood and eventually added to the Abbey Gate family.

Seven years later in 2019 the business was relaunched and as it develops it is hoped the two companies will compliment each other and lead to further expansion and development in the years to come.

Navigating troubled waters, 2020 - 2022

The year 2020 began positively with work continuing to increase and MLA training booked for Ben. However times were about to change.

Covid 19 forced us to postpone Bens MLA training. Working from home became the norm and our business plans were changed. The only work carried out was emergencies. As the first restrictions eased we had weathered the storm. We managed to retain all of our staff and on the 26 July 2020 we honored our commitment to Ben and his MLA training. Shortly after this another lockdown came into effect and we returned to restrictions.

By early 2021 restrictions were relaxed once again. Thankfully our customers remained loyal and we kept all of our staff who wanted to stay. Sadly our Maidenhead engineer decided to have a fresh start and left the company to persue a new career.

As a company we looked ahead. We continued to build our business and in 2021 our second brass furness (“Bridget”) was lit. Smiths also continued its development as planned. The website was relaunched and our work area expaned to include Winchester, Andover and Basingstoke.

In 2022 it was clear we needed more space. Eventually we found the perfect location to compliment the Caversham lock and safe works.
The new building now includes our head office, key cutting and for the first time in our history a showroom for the public. The more complex and large projects are still carried out in Caversham.

Many of our products including locks, Master key systems, shutters and Access control are fitted to the building itself. This is unique in Berkshire and allows us to demonstrate products as they appear when fitted without the use of display boards and leaflets.

For the first time in 10 years central Reading had a true locksmiths shop, and it is currently the only one in operation.

Abbey Gate locksmiths and security engineers

Unit 7 Prospect Mews
Off Prospect Steet
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 7YJ

New for 2022 was a new apprentice. Perry Knight joined the team and straight away undertook MLA and in house training. Stephen also reached the pinnacle of his MLA membership becoming National Charman. His appointment brought in new ideas and improvements for all members across Great Britain.

Moving forward, 2023 - present

The big news 2023 is the introduction of the Fire door certification and a PAT testing service.

While the Fire door certification was planned for some time the PAT testing was certainly not. A customer was let down and approached us for help. After completing the course, we sourced the equipment practiced by testing all of our electrical equipment and rolled out the service.

In the same year yet a new service was launched with Berkshires first and only cycle locksmith service. The new concept allows us to complete simple jobs in the greater Reading area without a van. Great for the environment while helping to keep the costs down for the customer.

Abbey Gate sports

Abbey Gate has always had a small, largely unknown association with sports. Alexander (a former American football player) regularly competes under the company name in half marathons and 10k runs.

In the summer of 2018 the “Abbey Gate running team” was officially founded. The team was used as a platform to benefit local charities. The team closed in 2023 to focus on its next project.

The next project was the establishment of the Basingstoke Turtles. The first American football team in the town in over 10 years. With equipment and advertising fully funded by Abbey Gate to the tune of £1100 it was a very proud achievement. The team has since changed its name and a second team, the Basingstoke Cavaliers has been established. A plan to relaunch a kitted contact team in the town is now being considered.

If you spot one of our runners take a snap, put it on instergram and we will make a donation to the charity of your choice!

For information on our locksmith services please follow one of the links above

Abbey Gate locksmiths are the parent company to Basingstoke and Reading based Smiths Security Service.

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