Rochdale tradesman James Buckley, founder of Rochdale-based AccuKey Auto Locksmith, had devopened what he claims is “the UK’s first automated vehicle-key pricing and booking platform built specifically for the auto-locksmith industry” after teaching himself how to build AI software using “vibe coding.”
The result is AccuKey IQ, which Buckley hopes will revolutionise the locksmith industry, as well as making life easier for consumers and professionals alike.
Getting a replacement car-key quote in the UK, Buckley explains, is still surprisingly manual. Customers typically call or message a locksmith, provide their registration and photographs, and wait while somebody identifies the vehicle, works out what key technology it uses and manually calculates a price.
Accukey IQ updates that process, and is being built to automate thet journey. A customer enters their vehicle registration, the system identifies the vehicle, applies the relevant job and pricing logic and moves them towards a booking.
Buckley explained: “The interesting part for me is that I’m an auto locksmith, not a software developer. I understood the problem because I deal with it every day, then used the new generation of AI development tools to learn how to build a solution myself.”
AccuKey itself is only three years old. In that time its creator grown the business, accumulated more than 250 five-star reviews, secured registered UK trade mark status and the technology is currently a finalist at two business awards.
Through the easy to navigate Accukey website, Buckley promises that spare keys, lost keys, lockouts and remote issues can all be “answered with a clear, all-inclusive fixed price in under a minute,” and he and his team even come to you to do it, with same day and emergency appointments usually available across the North West region.
AI, says Buckley, is “allowing tradespeople and small-business owners who deeply understand their industries to become technology builders themselves.”
