Ten Years of Lock and Latch: From One Tradesperson's Problem to Australia's Sash Window Specialists

Ten years ago, Matt was on the tools, running a sash window restoration business in Sydney. He knew exactly what a good double hung sash window needed to work properly: the right pulleys, the right cord, the right weights, proper draught seals. The problem wasn't knowing what to use. It was finding it.

Trade quality sash window hardware simply wasn't available in Australia. Everything decent had to come from overseas, in small awkward shipments, at prices that made no sense for the job. So Matt did what a lot of tradespeople in that position end up doing: he started sourcing it himself.

That problem became Lock and Latch.

The First Shipment

In 2016, the very first pallet of stock arrived at Port Botany. No warehouse system, no polished branding, just a pallet wrapped in plastic packed with Champion pulleys, sash cord and hardware, and a lot of hope that other people restoring old windows had the same problem Matt did.

They did.

What's Changed (and What Hasn't)

A decade on, Lock and Latch has grown into a proper operation: a real warehouse, a small family run team, and a catalogue that covers pretty much everything a sash window restoration needs. Champion pulleys, window locks, sash cord, add on weights, DIY draught seal kits, and the Evermend epoxy timber repair system for windows that need more than a seal.

What hasn't changed is the reason the business exists in the first place. It's still built around the same idea Matt had on site all those years ago, that trade quality gear and honest advice shouldn't be hard to get your hands on in Australia, whether you're a professional restorer or a homeowner tackling your first sash window.

That's also why customers still get a real person on the phone when they call, and why the odd 11pm email asking what size staff bead you need still gets a proper answer (fair question, it genuinely is a confusing one).

We're proud of the gap we fill. Good sash window products have always existed in the world; the problem was ever getting hold of them in Australia without paying extortionate import costs on top. That's the gap Lock and Latch was built to close, and we keep working at it: constantly evolving our range to source only the best and highest performing products, the same ones we'd use ourselves on a job. If a customer comes to us looking for something specific, we've got a network of suppliers across the globe we can call on to track it down. And if it simply doesn't exist anywhere, as has happened with a number of our own products, we get it made right here in Australia instead.

None of that was ever really about the sale. We've never gone in for hard selling; we just genuinely like sash windows and the craft of getting them right, and we'd rather spend twenty minutes on the phone talking someone through their window than push them to check out. Ten years of that has meant a lot of the same customers coming back, job after job.

Still Here, Still Doing the Same Thing

Ten years, thousands of windows, and one very memorable pallet later, Lock and Latch is still doing what it set out to do: supplying the parts and the know how to restore timber windows the right way, backed by a 21 day refund policy and support that doesn't disappear after the sale.

To say thanks, everything on the site is 15% off for the whole month of August, use code TENYEARS at checkout.

Here's to the next ten years of windows that work properly.

Matt & Gemma
Lock and Latch, Sash Window Specialists