Analysis: The war on Tool Theft

Tradespeople at last month’s tool theft rally made it clear they’re fed up with the lack of action so far, with many thinking it’s somehow getting even worse. Will we ever get a handle on the problem, and if so, how?

by George Dean18 March, 2025

It’s a grey and chilly February morning in London – the calm before the storm – but the distant sound of car horns is growing ever closer to Westminster Square. 

It’s shortly before noon when the first van arrives, which is grey and unmarked, except for a stark red slogan reading “TRADESPEOPLE DESERVE BETTER” in red bubbly font. Despite London’s notorious traffic, it somehow arrived minutes before the rest of the fleet. But before long, the entirety of Westminster Square is brough to a halt, absolutely gridlocked by a seemingly endless parade of tradespeople. 

According to tool theft rally organiser Shoaib Awan, founder of Trades United, there are as many as 500 tradespeople taking part in this year’s event. Each one has given up their day to get there (some also travelling hundreds of miles!), to join together and demand the government does something about the blight that is tool theft. Horns are honked, lights are flashed, and there’s even a tank driving around.

And their frustration is entirely understandable, too. New research from On The Tools has found that an alarming three-in-four tradespeople in the UK say they’ve had their tools stolen before, and as many as one-in-four report it happening three times or more.

The average cost of goods stolen per tool theft is between £1,000 and £5,000, and is thought to cost the construction and renovation industry more than £2.8bn each year. To make matters worse, when tool theft does occur, a staggering nine-in-ten tradespeople (87%) say they didn’t receive adequate support from police following the crime. Heartbreakingly, it’s also estimated that only 1% of tradespeople ever fully recover their stolen tools.

Although the statistics already paint a worrying picture, those numbers don’t show the real and personal cost that accompany tool theft. Speaking with installers on the ground – or, perhaps more accurately, behind the wheel – at the tool theft rally, they’ve all got a similar story to tell. 

Real problems

As if to confirm those statistics, almost all of the installers I spoke with said they’d been victims of tool theft themselves. In fact, one kitchen fitter, Dave Bishop, confides that he’s been a victim of tool theft no less than 16 times across his career – three incidents of which happened within 18 months of each other.

“I think it’s probably the same people who come back every time to do it,” he speculates. “They’ve taken them from the van, and they’ve even broken into my house when I unload all my tools. 

“We need tougher sentences on tool theft when people are caught, and we need to stop them selling them at boot fairs. Unless you’ve got genuine receipts for them, you need to be stopped.”

Speaking from their van, two kitchen and bathroom installers from Doc Home Repair say they’ve had their vehicle broken into three times in less than a year, and to add insult to injury, it’s even happened when the van has been empty. Afterwards, they still had to deal with the damage from having the vehicle ripped open.

While we’re talking, one of them climbs out and walks around to the other side of the van to show me the steel plate he’s had installed to cover up the damage from one of the break-in attempts. He recalls: “Just after I stuck that on, I turned my back for 10 minutes while I was in the supermarket and they tried to pull it off to break in again – they just won’t stop.”

With so many frustrated tradespeople with personal experience in one place, I was interested in hearing their ideas about what “an answer” to the problem of tool theft actually is. 

Stephen Baker, from S.B. Multitrade, believes that the police are struggling to actually catch the people who are stealing from tradespeople. Like most of those affected, he also wants something done about the sale of tools at car boot sales and on platforms like Facebook Marketplace.

“It’s obvious where those sellers are getting their tools from,” he says, “You ask any normal tradesman – they don’t sell their tools. You pass them down to your apprentices, use it til it breaks, and then buy a new one.”

Another tradesperson, who identified himself as “Deano”, agreed that boot sale markets were the problem, and also called for tougher sentencing from the courts. One installer, who asked not to be named, believed that it was perhaps part of a wider issue, and linked the lack of sentencing to the widely-publicised lack of prison spaces available in the UK. 

Rally organiser Awan himself believes whatever the root cause, the problem has gotten even worse over the last 12 months. He explains: “There have been 46,000 reported cases over the last year. People just don’t even want to report it any more because they’re just being handed crime reference numbers over the phone and that’s it. The crowd that’s turning up for the rally – we just need the government to come out and take action.”

Collective problem

There’s a slight misconception that tool theft simply isn’t a problem that KBB retailers have to concern themselves with, especially if they sub-contract installers for their own projects. However, speaking to several prominent retailers, it’s clear that tool theft has a knock-on effect on the whole KBB industry.

Phil Beechninor, managing director at Alexander, says his retail and install business has experienced tool theft six or seven times over the last 30 years. He adds: “We have on a couple of occasions had tools simply stolen from the client’s driveway in broad daylight. I once had an occasion where a van pulled up outside a client’s property, and stole a chop saw in front of the carpenter’s eyes!”

Simon Taylor, managing director of Simon Taylor Furniture also adds his business has seen its fair share of tool thefts, similarly adding: “We’ve even had a van broken into on a client’s drive.”

Taylor believes it’s unlikely that retailers as a whole understand enough about tool theft. Although, he adds: “It would soon get their attention if the fitter cannot finish their project, or may start to increase their install price because of additional costs incurred.”

To help, Beechninor says his business has policies to try and deter thieves. Although still not a total guarantee, he explains: “We ask that power tools are removed from the vans at night. Due to the nature of our retail business, the tools can be left on site overnight during the week on many occasions and at the weekend they tend to put them in their garages if they can.”

When asked whether he thinks tool theft is a priority for the government, Beechninor admits, “probably not, with everything else going on”. However, he adds: “They definitely need tougher punishments to make an example of the perpetrators. Obviously, there is more awareness as it’s becoming more common and the recent rally in London helped draw attention to the issue.”

Similarly, Simon Taylor believes that insurers also have a role to play in helping stop the flow of tool thieves, saying: “Tool theft is one thing, but what a lot of people do not realise is the significant hassle associated with replacing stolen items, not to mention the repair costs for the van itself. 

“To mitigate the risk, we now use secure steel tool chests equipped with an alarm on all the doors. None of our vans have rear or side windows, so the worst we suffer now is a hole in the side of the van that needs repairing.”

What’s next?

Although tougher sentencing and shutting down tool sales at marketplaces sounds like a simple first step, what’s actually happening behind the velvet curtains of Westminster to fix this at a higher level?

On Wednesday, December 11, the sitting Labour MP for Portsmouth North, Amanda Martin, tabled a new Parliamentary Bill specifically targeting tool theft and its sentencing limits. The proposed Theft of Tools of Trade (Sentencing) Bill would look to impose harsher sentencing for tool thieves, and also add tool theft to the list of crimes considered as causing “significant additional harm” to a victim. In addition, the bill aims to better recognise the overall financial impact of tool theft, including factors such as vehicle repair and the loss of work.

After consideration, the House of Commons agreed with her, and a second reading of the Bill is now scheduled for April. While it’s encouraging that the government has taken such an interest in tool theft and its impact, how far will that new legislation go? 

Assuming the Bill does eventually pass and become law, many tradespeople already complain that it’s hard enough to actually catch and convict tool thieves. Will harsher sentencing provisions really be effective enough to stop the whole problem?  

Tool theft is an incredibly complex problem with no easy  one-size-fits-all solution. However the UK’s politicians plan to resolve the situation, the fact that the issue is being discussed within Westminster by the sitting government is an achievement in and of itself. With the gears of politics now slowly grinding, we’ll have to wait until next month to see if the new Bill passes and has any lasting impact on the problem. 

So, the real question is, will it be enough? Or will installers be driving towards Westminster for a third time, horns blazing, to demand tougher action once again?