Hundreds of tradespeople to march on Westminster over ‘tool theft epidemic’

A carpenter who considered suicide when thieves stole £12,000 of his tools is joining hundreds of fellow tradespeople marking on parliament over what they dub a “van tool theft epidemic”.

Stephen Baker is among around 500 people set to descend on Westminster on Monday, 3 February to urge the government to do more to battle the issue of tool theft.

Baker, 31, has told how he considered taking his own life after thieves stole thousands of pounds worth of tools from his van in minutes, leaving him unable to work.

“Everything I had worked for for 13 years was gone in five minutes and I felt desolate with no way forward,” he said. “I felt like the life had been sucked out of me.”

The carpenter is not alone, with builders’ groups saying the issue is having a devastating impact on small businesses in the UK construction industry.

Hundreds of tradespeople are joining a rally organised by Trades United – a group of tradespeople who have come together to draw attention to the issue – from Brent Cross to Parliament Square to demand the government takes action with stricter enforcement of existing laws, particularly around tool theft.

Participants will stage a ‘go-slow’ convoy in Westminster, driving through the area for two hours to raise awareness.

Baker, from Hertfordshire, whose firm is S B Multitrade, left his tools inside his hire Ford Transit van outside a hotel in Watford, in February 2023.

Hotel rules stopped him taking his tools in, but he chose a position which blocked the back door, and had CCTV on the side door.

Despite that, his van was raided by thieves – with CCTV later showing how they popped the lock in just 22 seconds, emptying the contents of the van into a car in four minutes.

The thieves were never caught, and even when they found tools they thought were Baker’s, they couldn’t prove it as the serial numbers had been scratched off, he said. He was also unable to claim anything on insurance because he had been using a hire van.

“Power tools are expensive – you can’t just replace them. When they take your tools you can’t work. I couldn’t buy more. I couldn’t do the jobs I had or look for any more jobs,” he said.

“I hear about thefts like this four times a day – five years ago you heard about it but never saw it happening or knew anyone it had happened to. We won’t get this country built up if tradespeople aren’t supported.”

‘Beyond crisis point’

Two charitable organisations that helped Baker – Trades United and construction charity Band of Builders – get back on his feet, are calling for harsher penalties for those convicted of tool and vehicle theft, improved security at public spaces, a dedicated task force to address theft relating to tradespeople, better support for victims and a public awareness campaign.

Band of Builders CEO Gavin Crane – whose own charity van has been broken into twice – said: “The UK construction industry can’t go on like this – it’s beyond crisis point.

“Tradespeople face this threat every day, their vehicles are their livelihoods. Enough is enough.

“The van rally will demonstrate the strength of feeling about this epidemic amongst the community of tradespeople in the UK.”

The van rally in Westminster on 3 February is the second organised by Trades United, with a previous one taking place in June 2024. It followed a petition launched in April 2024, calling for the government to address the escalating tool theft crisis by banning the sale of tools at car boots and markets, which garnered over 46,000 signatures, reflecting the widespread concern within the trade industry.

Tool theft is a serious issue for tradespeople in the UK, according to figures which suggest that a tool theft is reported every 12 minutes in the UK.

Analysis by Direct Line business insurance reported in 2024 suggested that UK tradespeople had tools worth £98m stolen in 2023 – up 5% from the previous year.

Its research found 44,514 tools thefts were reported to the police in 2023. Tools are most frequently stolen from vans, with thefts up 14% in 2023 to 24,543 reports – accounting for more than half (55%) of all tool thefts.

The rising thefts came despite 94% of tradespeople taking extra precautions to secure their tools, spending on average £626 retrofitting their vans with additional security, including additional locks, drill plates, trackers and alarms.

In terms of the impact, on top of the cost of replacing tools, 83% of tradespeople said they lost business because of the theft and not having tools to work. Tradespeople reported losing work worth an average £1,836 the last time their tools were stolen, meaning an estimated £82m worth of jobs were lost by trades in 2023.

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