You founded Kynekt after having your own tools stolen. What happened?
Before launching Kynekt, I ran my own construction business. It was a good size; we ran a large team across multiple job sites, and the work was really rewarding. We got a lot done. But tool theft was relentless. It happened on site, from vans, and from lockups. And the financial impact was huge. People often think it’s kind of a victimless crime because you can always claim on your insurance, but it’s often not that easy. And when you lose enough and make claims enough, your premiums become so high that it stops being viable. Kynekt is my solution to that.
Designed specifically for trade professionals, it doesn’t just provide proof of ownership for insurance claims, but unique ID codes for tools, and trackers that can be used by police for retrieval. The aim is to provide everything tradespeople need to protect their assets in one place.
How big is the tool theft problem?
There was a Simply Business survey a few years ago, showing that 78% of tradespeople have experienced tool theft. And that comes at a cost of around £100m a year. That’s a massive impact for any industry. But it’s not just the financial impact that’s a concern. Because around half of thefts happen overnight from vehicles, contractors feel personally violated by the experience, and around two-thirds worry about it constantly. While the obvious answer is not to leave your tools in your van overnight, most contractors don’t have anywhere else to leave them. And our research shows that 68% of tradies worry about this daily.
Why do so many insurance claims for stolen tools fail?
The biggest problem is that 83% of affected tradespeople have no proof of ownership when theft happens, so claims are rejected before they’re even assessed. And that’s part of the inspiration for Kynekt. We want to help more people to receive the insurance cover they’re paying for. Too many tradespeople rely on out-of-date asset records, because keeping up with admin just isn’t a priority when you’ve got multiple jobs coming in. With Kynekt, you have a tamper-proof, timestamped documentation register as proof. We work with specialist insurer Superscript, who recognise Kynekt as a form of proof of ownership, and will process claims from Kynekt customers making the process straightforward.
What does Kynekt actually do when tools are stolen?
We offer a range of connected services. So, the foundation is a digital ownership register when signing up, which can help with insurance claims. The process is easy – a rapid 2-minute inventory registration via photo scanning, and specialist trade insurers (like Superscript) are already recognising us as a trusted source. Then we offer covert GPS tracking with remote disable, so if tools are stolen, they can be disabled and retrieved – so far we’ve had a 94% recovery rate, with an average of two hours from theft to recovery, versus the 5% recovery rate of tools without tracking. On top of that, we provide a verified second-hand marketplace in the same app, so if you need to sell or buy tools, you can do so with confidence.
Stolen tools often end up on Facebook Marketplace and eBay. Can that pipeline be broken?
Only when verifiable alternatives are available. And that’s what we’re trying to offer. Manufacturers don’t build in recovery or take theft seriously – probably because theft usually results in another sale. So, the industry needs a verified marketplace that gives buyers a clean alternative where ownership is proven. If we can make buying from platforms like Kynekt the norm, it will become natural to be suspicious of other online marketplace sales.
What’s the cost of tool theft beyond the kit itself?
There’s obviously the value of the kit, and the bumped-up insurance premiums. But then you’ve got the burden of missed jobs, lost deposits, damaged client trust, and the reputational hit of not turning up. And that can’t be underestimated, as most tradespeople work from reputation alone.
While large construction businesses like mine still feel the impact, the hardest hit will always be the sole traders. When tools are stolen from an independent business, it can be devastating. They can lose weeks or even months of work. And that’s a huge financial and mental burden to carry. Mental health isn’t something that often gets discussed in this trade, but the Tradespeople Against Tool Theft white paper showed that having tools stolen has had a “strong impact” on the mental health of 39% of people involved in the research. And it’s not surprising to anyone who’s been unfortunate enough to experience it.
What can we see from Kynekt in the future?
We’ve already made great strides, Kynekt is backed by the police, specialist insurers, and thousands of UK tradespeople. Our aim is to make tool theft unviable. If people won’t buy the tools you’ve stolen, and the police are able to track and retrieve stolen goods within hours, then there’s no value in the exercise. Especially if you can’t even use the tools when you’ve got them because they’ve been remotely disabled. Our next focus will be on growing ToolTrade®, our verified tool marketplace. Every business has kit sitting idle. ToolTrade® lets you sell what you no longer need for real money, buy trusted second-hand equipment, and purchase new from approved vendors – all in one place.
