Have you been a victim of tool theft? What can the industry do to fight back against the thieves? Our new campaign is inviting you to share your experiences and provide some practical solutions to prevent it.
Almost every builder can tell the same sad tale of being suddenly deprived of some – or all – of the tools of their trade. Sign written vans can often be an unwitting draw for the most unscrupulous in our society, and with a vehicle parked up outside a job for much of the day they are inevitably a soft target for the opportunistic.
It’s not just the financial loss of an arsenal of tools that might have been assembled over an entire career, and the outlay in replacing them, because, with the means to do your job suddenly removed, the damage to a small building business can go much deeper.
Share your experiences with tool theft using the hashtag #fightingtooltheft
So what is to be done? What advice do you have to your fellow chippies, spreaders and brickies? Could insurance companies be doing more to support the victims of crime, for instance? Can power tool manufacturers do more? Is the second hand market, and those that purchase tools of questionable provenance ultimately to blame?
We want to start a debate on an issue that every tradesperson has some personal experience of, so Professional Builder is inviting you to have your say right here on our website. If you’ve been a casualty of the criminal fraternity tell us about it.
If you’ve found ways to protect yourself and your power tools then share it with your fellow tradespeople , or if you’ve got an idea that you think the industry should be adopting let us know. Have your say and some of the best contributions will appear not only on our website but in regular campaign updates published in the coming issues of Professional Builder magazine.
