Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
23rd September 2026 Issue no. 820
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Hickleys Simply Keys 2026 – A weekend of savings, sales, schooling and smiles
What a great weekend we had at Simply Keys! This year we saw a nice increase in interest in the show with a record number of people registering to come along. The staff at the GTG Centre in Wolverhampton were extremely accommodating as our hosts (as always!) and helped to make the show run as smoothly as it possibly could have.
The Hickleys Games arcade was buzzing as ever throughout the two days, this year we brought along two new games for people to try. Our new reaction game saw us give away 4 ever-popular Nintendo Switch consoles.
Our other new addition this year was “Cornhole” where people had to throw beanbags into nets to win tokens or credits for their chosen key programming unit. Console winners this year included Jocob Hobbs, Hughie from Cheshire Auto Locksmiths and Jaxson & Lincoln from That’s Lock And Roll Ltd.
We are hugely grateful to the suppliers who attended the show this year, there was a constant buzz around the demo area and product stands throughout the weekend. IEA kindly flew one of their top techs over from Turkey for the weekend, who was on hand to give some great demos of new programming capabilities as well as give out a lot of great general advice in using the ZedFULL plus unit. Silca and Advanced Diagnostics had a whole team attend the show, demoing all things Smart Pro, including new capabilities for programming BYD remotes.
Also at the show, KAP seemed to be having great fun talking with customers. Our friends from North West Keys and Davenport Burgess had nice amount of interest in their displays. The two-day line up was rounded out by GYS, who were giving advice on battery support units vital for key programming jobs on many vehicles.
On the Hickleys side of the show, more bargains than ever were snapped up. This included savings both on everyday Auto Locksmith products and services as well as a few ‘back of the cupboard’ clearance items that made their way to the selling area.
Thank you so much to everyone that attended the show, and if you did not make it this year hopefully you are now convinced to make the journey to the midlands in 2027, when we will no doubt do it all again!
23rd September 2026