Tradespeople across the UK are losing out on thousands of pounds, as sophisticated thieves are targeting tradespeople to loot expensive tools.
Since the easing of lockdown in April 2021, more than £46 million worth of tools have been stolen from vans, with more than a third of the theft reports coming from London alone.
As per the data from Direct Line, this is equivalent to an astonishing £245,893 worth of tools being stolen every day, with only 1% of stolen tools being recovered.
Apart from London, a number of big cities feature in the 10 worst hit areas – including Surrey, Northumbria, Hertfordshire, and West Yorkshire – but more surprisingly, Kent and Dorset also make the list of top UK regions for tool theft from vehicles.
| Region |
Number of cases of theft since April 2021 |
| London |
12,769 |
| West Yorkshire |
400 |
| Northumbria |
233 |
| Kent |
217 |
| Surrey |
164 |
| Hertfordshire |
140 |
| Dorset |
135 |
| Lancashire |
132 |
| Merseyside |
91 |
| Avon and Somerset |
84 |
With a low conviction rate and often lenient sentencing, the legal system doesn’t present much of a deterrent to tool thieves. This is in spite of posing the biggest threat to tradespeople from being able to complete their work nationwide and hitting them hard in the pocket.
In an attempt to bring the conversation of tool theft to the national agenda, Fix Radio launched an online petition to combat the issue.
Hosted on the parliament website, the petition called for the formation of a parliamentary committee to bring together police, politicians, van and tool manufacturers, insurance providers and societal leaders to discuss the issue of tool theft and propose solutions.
Though the petition failed to garner enough signatures online, it managed to bring the issue to light and open dialogue around tool theft and its impact on the livelihood and mental health of hard-working tradespeople.
Clive Holland, host of The Clive Holland Show on Fix Radio, said: "Despite the size of the problem or its impact on tradespeople everywhere, nothing is being done to combat the tool theft epidemic sweeping the country. Police are overwhelmed, politicians don’t care, and better security features on vans or tools isn’t a priority with manufacturers.”
"Tool theft is not a ‘victimless’ crime – it attacks the livelihoods of the UK’s two million tradespeople. It means work is lost, earnings disrupted and plunges many tradespeople into debt just to replace tools so that they can go back to work. This epidemic needs immediate attention.”
