FAMILY is everything to Colne Valley businessman Darren Whitehead.

The co-owner of The Real Lock Company is happiest surrounded by his nearest and dearest.

And that’s the usual state of things as the business he runs with co-owner Stephen and lifelong friend Stephen Allen is based at Darren’s Slaithwaite home.

Darren, 37, who worked as a joiner and a construction site manager before setting up his own business, built the house he lives in four years ago. He shares the property, which commands fine views of the valley, with his wife Debra and four children as well as his mother-in-law. The family also have several dogs. As Darren says: “It’s generally a very busy house!”

The property is also next door to Meadow Court care home, which is owned by his parents and uncle. When they acquired the home from Kirklees Council, Darren carried out the necessary improvements. He remains involved in the business.

Darren grew up at Hill Top, Slaithwaite, just three streets away from his present home. He attended Colne Valley High School, but admits: “I was not very academically-minded. I struggled to learn things that did not grip me.

“I left school and worked for Gill Joinery in Golcar. It was a very good apprenticeship. Working with the boss all the time, you don’t get away with a great deal!”

Darren went on to work for joinery firms at Linthwaite and New Mill before the chance came to step up to construction manager, working in London for five years. “It was a tremendous opportunity to gain more experience,” he says. “It’s an opportunity I would never have got up here.”

Darren worked for a construction company in Welwyn Garden City. He was involved in several commercial developments, including the building of big industrial units at Croydon and the provision of a holding area for Customs & Excise at Heathrow Airport.

However, Darren says: “I was always going to come back. it was big decision to go there in the first place. I was supposed to be going for a month, but it turned out to be a lot longer. I left London in 2000 and came back up here to see if I could get a job at management level.”

Back home, Darren worked on several major schemes, including the refurbishment of the visitor centre at Tunnel End, Marsden, and a £1.2m contract for a specialist old people’s unit at Harrogate.

Although his employers sent him to London for 12 months, Darren was soon back – helping with the Meadow Court refurbishment. “The home had been closed for four or five years and needed bringing up to regulations,” he says.

Darren later worked for a Halifax construction firm on schemes including the refurbishment of retail units in Deansgate, Manchester; a £3.4m extension for Leeds College of Art and Design; new minor surgery theatres at Holme Valley Memorial Hospital in Holmfirth; and the conversion into offices of part of historic Hopton Mills at Mirfield.

However, Darren foresaw the downturn looming for the construction industry and decided to go back to his roots in joinery and work for himself.

“I had just passed the entrance exam to be a part-time fireman at Slaithwaite,” he says. “With that, my role handling health and safety and maintenance at Meadow Court and my own business, I thought I would be all right. But two weeks before I was supposed to start with the fire service, the cuts came and there was a freeze on recruitment.”

A fresh opportunity arose when friend Stephen Allen had his house broken into – and they began looking for a good lock to replace the one damaged in the burglary. “I tried to find the best one on the market and everyone was giving me contradictory advice,” says Darren.

“While we were looking into this, another friend had his house broken into. He had four locks replaced – and was charged £350 by the company doing it. In effect, he’d been robbed twice! We wondered if we could make a little business – find a good lock that works, keep the price down as far as we can, pass on the savings to the customer and offer an efficient service.”

The threat of burglars breaking into houses quickly and easily by “bumping” or “snapping” the locks fitted to many domestic plastic doors was graphically illustrated in a BBC TV programme – raising awareness of the need to fit locks which could not be so easily unpicked.

While Darren questions the wisdom of showing the techniques used by burglars on television, he says: “People need to be made aware of the dangers. It is not a case of trying to frighten people, but explaining that people have to make their house as secure as possible – without fitting bars and shutters. It’s also about taking sensible precautions to prevent crime, such as not leaving the family silver on show in the window.”

The Real Lock Company found its supplier in Brighouse-based Avocet ABS, which supplies the firm with the ABS Lock – one which has been awarded the British Standard Kitemark PAS024 and which is designed to prevent easy access into the home.

Darren and Stephen have demonstrated their locks at Neighbourhood Watch meetings as well as receiving glowing references from satisfied customers on Facebook and the Age Concern UK website. The company is also approaching insurance companies to win endorsement for its products.

Running his own business couldn’t suit Darren better – despite the odd 2am call-out to replace busted locks! And the lessons he learned in management still hold him in good stead.

“I have a good manner with people, I think,” he says. “I can get people on-side and get things done. There are two methods of management – shout and bawl or try and coerce people into doing what you want them to do. People will always try to help if you are right and reasonable about it.”

He says: “I always thought I would end up in joinery management somewhere and when the opportunity arose to be a site manager I took it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I have done my fair share of travelling to sites and being away from 6am to 6pm.

“Family is a massive part of my life. Now I can work from home and when I’m not working we go walking the dogs or have big family dinners. We watch Huddersfield Town and enjoy family things. Even during the holidays, the youngest kids have been helping make Easter bonnets with the residents at Meadow Court.

“Home life is vital for us and the children. If you can find the right work-life balance, you are very lucky. At the moment, I feel really blessed.”