Keeping Sheffield Safe Since 1919

Our old shop on Division Street

At H Harrold & Sons, our roots run deep in Sheffield’s history. What began in 1919 as a small workshop on Burgess Street is now one of the UK’s largest locksmiths and Sheffield’s only locksmiths to be Master Locksmith Association (MLA) approved.

Founded by William Harrold just after the First World War, the company started its life next to the Albert Hall in Barker’s Pool – the site famously occupied by Cole Brothers – later moving to Rockingham Lane, then Division Street and now Shalesmoor, where it has been for over 50 years.

In the early days, everything was done by hand – from cutting intricate keys to crafting specialist locks. William Harrold’s reputation grew and grew. So much so, that Harry Houdini approached him to create secure locks to use in his performances.

During the war years, H Harrold & Sons played a critical role in supporting the armed forces and steel industry. Locksmiths worked in bomb-damaged buildings and on urgent security projects across the city. Even without company vehicles, they travelled across Yorkshire and Derbyshire with their tools – often by tram or even on foot.

When a fire destroyed our Albert Hall premises in 1937, we moved to a new premises on Rockingham Lane and, eight years later, William handed the business over to his son, Henry.

The Rockingham Lane shop

Henry then passed the company on to his three grandsons, Terry, Norman and Gordon, who spearheaded the expansion of H Harrold and Sons into the go-to locksmiths and security engineers for the region. They laid the foundation that the business stands on today.

Over the decades, the business continued to grow until, Terry’s children Tony, Peter and Diane took over in 1992.

The fourth generation of Harrolds foresaw the extension of H Harrold and Sons’ CCTV and access control services, helping to improving the security of schools and businesses across the region.

They also expanded the business’ vehicle fleets as the company became 21^st century proficient.

A team photo from the mid-1990s in our current Shalesmoor shop

Today, Tony’s sons Harry and Jordan have joined the management team as the company’s newest directors – you can learn more about them here – leading our family business into a new era.

H Harrold & Sons hires 19 people. We provide services from master key suites and safe installations, to emergency lock-outs, and door hardware and access control, across South Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

We’ve worked with major South Yorkshire institutions including the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust, while also providing a variety of services to smaller, local businesses and tradespeople.

We’re proud to serve both our hometown and the surrounding region. Here’s to another 100 years – and many more generations of Harrolds!