If you're a builder, joiner, electrician, plumber, painter or landscaper working across Flintshire, your tools are probably your biggest asset. And right now, there's a good chance they spend every night in your van.
That's a problem — and it's getting worse.
Van break-ins across North Wales are increasing
It doesn't take a lot of digging through local Facebook groups to find tradespeople who've had tools stolen. A smashed window. A stripped-out van. A Monday morning with no drill, no saw, and a job to start. The crime is opportunistic, it takes about 90 seconds, and it costs thousands.
The average claim for stolen tools runs to £3,000–£5,000. The average insurance excess is £250–£500. And that's before you factor in the day you lost, the tools you couldn't replace on short notice, and the premium increase at renewal.
Why "leaving it in the van" has become a bad habit
Most tradespeople know it's a risk. The reason tools stay in the van anyway is inertia — it's easier to drive to the job with everything already loaded. The problem is that convenient becomes routine, and routine becomes complacent.
A storage container on Mold Business Park changes that equation. You drive in, roll up the door, load what you need for tomorrow, roll it back down. Lock. Done. It takes five minutes. The tools you're not using this week stay locked, dry, and behind a fully fenced, CCTV-monitored compound.
What "secure" actually means at LockStore Mold
It's worth being specific, because not all storage is equal. At LockStore Mold, "secure" means:
- Full perimeter fencing around the entire compound
- CCTV coverage across every container row, round the clock
- Floodlighting that comes on at dusk and stays on until dawn
- Gate access restricted to registered customers only
- 24-hour access so you can get in at 6am before a job starts
The last point matters more than most people think. A lot of tradespeople start early. If your storage facility doesn't open until 8am, it doesn't work for a 6:30 start on a site in Connah's Quay. At LockStore Mold, there's no "opening time" — you're registered, and you're in.
What fits in a 20-foot container?
The containers at LockStore Mold are 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet high. In practical terms for a tradesperson, that means:
- A full set of power tools with room to spare
- Ladders, scaffolding boards and trestles
- A months' worth of materials for a current job
- Seasonal kit that's not needed until next spring
- A van-load of equipment, stacked properly, with enough ceiling height to walk in
Many tradespeople find they use the container as a base of operations — what you need this week gets loaded into the van, and the rest stays locked up. It keeps the van lighter and dramatically less attractive to thieves.
The cost compared to alternatives
A small industrial unit in Deeside or Wrexham typically costs £400–£700 per month, with a lease, a minimum term, and rates on top. A container at LockStore Mold is £120 + VAT — no minimum term, no rates, no solicitor, no admin. You can start next week and leave whenever the job wraps up.
For a self-employed tradesperson or a small team that doesn't need premises, just secure storage for gear and materials, there's very little reason to pay three times the price for a unit you mostly leave empty.
A note on the anti-condensation coating
This one's worth mentioning specifically because a lot of tradespeople are storing metal tools. In the damp North Wales climate, an uncoated metal container can sweat inside during temperature changes — and that moisture damages precision equipment, rusts blades and corrodes connections over time.
LockStore Mold's containers are lined with Grafotherm anti-condensation coating, which prevents the metal surfaces from sweating. Tools stay dry. Power tools stay in working order. You don't open a container in March to find your kit ruined.
Getting started
If you're a tradesperson based anywhere in Flintshire — Mold, Buckley, Connah's Quay, Hawarden, Flint, Holywell or the surrounding area — LockStore Mold is on Mold Business Park, two minutes off the A494.
You can view the site in 5 minutes. We're usually able to get new customers moved in within 48 hours of an enquiry, and often the same day if a container's available.
Ready to get your tools off the van?
Drop us a message or give us a call — we'll show you round the site and have you set up quickly.
Get in Touch