What I do on a shop lockout
Retail units typically have more locks than a domestic property, the main door, the back/stock-room door, a roller shutter (often with its own cylinder), sometimes an alarm keypad tied to a key-override. Which lock is the problem changes the approach.
Main shopfront door, usually a Euro cylinder in an aluminium or glass-aluminium door, or a mortice in a wooden one. Picked open like any other lockout. If the existing cylinder is a cheap unit, I’ll recommend a 3★ anti-snap upgrade before I leave, shopfront cylinders are the single most attacked lock type in UK retail after hours.
Roller shutter, the cylinder is usually a small manual Euro or a padlock-style barrel. If the key is broken or lost, same extraction/replacement approach. If the shutter motor is jammed (bent in an attempted break-in, or mechanical failure), that’s a shutter engineer’s job, I’ll tell you straight and save you money.
Stock-room / staff-only door, same as residential. Sometimes these doors have been neglected for years and have no working spare keys anywhere, worth a cylinder refresh and spare-key cut while I’m there.
Alarm key-override, most commercial alarm systems have a key override. If that cylinder has failed, the alarm system may partially or fully disable the shop’s insurance cover. Urgent to fix.
Proof of rights: I’ll need evidence you’ve got the right to access the unit, commercial lease, business rates bill, company ID. Out-of-hours, I can usually accept a photo of lease paperwork on your phone.
Pricing matches the standard time-of-day table. For multiple locks on the same visit, the call-out only applies once.