The team, premises, software, manufacturing, trade brand, customer service culture and the long-term mission behind the business.
The team, premises, software, manufacturing, trade brand, customer service culture and the long-term mission behind the business.
I started the business as Sussex Sounds, providing mobile installation of vehicle audio, vehicle security, satellite navigation and communication systems. Working from home with a single van, I built the business around technical workmanship, exceptional customer service and a willingness to travel throughout the South East to provide customers with professional installations.
Those early years established the values that still underpin Sussex Installations today: doing the job properly, treating customers fairly and continually looking for better ways to deliver quality workmanship.
Following the global financial crisis, I anticipated that spending on discretionary vehicle accessories would reduce while van crime could rise. I made the decision to focus increasingly on commercial vehicle security.
I invested time and money in more precise tools, cleaner fitting methods, thorough swarf removal and corrosion protection. The process took longer than common fitting methods at the time, but it produced the quality of installation I believed van owners deserved.
Employing my first member of staff was one of the biggest, most daunting and most difficult steps in expanding the business. It marked the transition from relying entirely on my own work to beginning to build a team capable of delivering the standards and customer experience I wanted every customer to receive.
After years of operating from home, we moved into our first dedicated commercial premises. This allowed us to expand our specialist team, improve workflow and increase installation capacity while maintaining the standards the business had become known for.
By this point our reputation was spreading well beyond the South East. Customers were travelling from across the UK and increasingly from mainland Europe to have their vans secured by Sussex Installations.
The van owner shown here invented the “day trip drive from Belgium to Sussex Installations”: travelling from Belgium, having us fit his van security and then driving back to Belgium, all in the same day.
By 2017, customers and viewers were finding Sussex Installations from across the UK and around the world. To celebrate our growing international recognition as The Van Security Specialist, we created a one-of-a-kind promotional vehicle shaped and painted as a globe.
We named the car Orbee. It became a fun and memorable way to represent how far the Sussex Installations name and our van-security videos had travelled beyond Eastbourne.
Sussex Installations was awarded Highly Commended in the Innovation, Digital & Tech Award category at the East Sussex Business Awards.
By this point, the business had evolved beyond vehicle-security installation into software development, mobile apps, technical databases, online education and increasingly ambitious product-development work.
It was encouraging to see that journey recognised by an independent judging panel and it reinforced my belief that continual innovation should remain one of the foundations of Sussex Installations.
East Sussex Business Awards 2019: Highly Commended — Innovation, Digital & Tech Award.
During the uncertainty of the COVID period, I purchased and redeveloped our current industrial premises. Rather than standing still, we invested for long-term growth by creating offices, a larger workshop, an innovation centre and the infrastructure needed for in-house manufacturing.
This also marked the beginning of formally building and registering our intellectual property portfolio.
We invested in CNC Laser cutting and CNC press-brake technology, allowing us to design, prototype and manufacture products in-house.
To make that investment work, I had to learn to become a laser-machine operator and press-brake operator. I also researched, purchased and learned to use other manufacturing equipment and methods, including stud welding and spot welding.
We introduced dedicated CNC gasket manufacturing so that another important component could be designed, refined and produced under our own control.
A creative use of space: by then we had filled the premises with offices, warehouse space, metalworking areas and machinery — so much so that there was barely any room left to fit a van. We had to be creative with the space available to fit everything in.
Most ready-made powder-coating plants are huge and intended for large objects such as iron gates. I decided that I would have to design and build the entire setup from scratch to make it suitable for powder coating the shields we manufacture, while reducing the footprint and space required.
When I fitted parking sensors around 2005, they were nearly always black regardless of the bumper colour. Eventually colour-coded parking sensors became the choice for most owners whose bumpers were not black.
It seemed inevitable to me that the same would happen with security shields, so I wanted to get ahead of the market and become the first shield manufacturer to offer in-house colour coding of shields.
More than twenty years after starting as a mobile installer, Sussex Installations had evolved into a business that designs, prototypes, laser cuts, bends, welds, gasket manufactures, powder coats, colour matches, assembles and professionally installs many of the products we manufacture.
Every stage — from identifying an emerging attack method to designing, manufacturing and fitting the finished solution — can take place under one roof.
One of the realities of developing genuinely innovative products is that successful ideas rarely remain unique forever.
This image compares one of my registered designs with a product that later appeared on the market. Both products are shown using their product identifiers so readers can make their own observations.
For me, this was not the end of the story — it reinforced the importance of continuing to innovate rather than standing still. The greatest protection for any innovative business is not simply intellectual property; it is continually moving forward with the next generation of ideas.
Comparison of products shown using their respective manufacturer part numbers.
Although Sussex Installations has grown into a specialist manufacturing business with a strong team around me, I still spend time where I enjoy it most — working directly on vehicles, analysing new security threats and developing better solutions.
The combination of hands-on installation experience, product design, manufacturing and continuous learning remains at the heart of how I approach vehicle security today.
These extracts are from genuine five-star Google reviews.
★★★★★"They've moved to larger premises since my first visit, three or four years ago. They are manufacturing some products in-house, which was quite impressive."
Tom Wilson · Google review, July 2023
★★★★★"They do not intermediate the materials, they produce them in their small factory. I appreciate the companies that invest in people and equipment so that their work comes out as in the book."
George Ferne · Google review, May 2023
★★★★★"A great local business, working to a very high professional standard of manufacturing."
Tectonic Digital Systems Ltd · Google review, February 2022
Review wording has been lightly shortened for display without changing its meaning. Full reviews remain available on the Sussex Installations Google Business Profile.
Sussex Installations owner Jeff Scott published YouTube videos demonstrating how van deadlocks operate and a better quality process of fitting van deadlocks, slamlocks, alarms and shielding since 2009 earning his reputation as the OG Van Security YouTuber.
Existing manufacturers were not producing van security suitable products that protected van latches or repaired damage after a break in, so Jeff Scott became a CAD designer and built a factory to manufacture better van security products.
It's quite possible, we have published our intellectual property registrations with the dates of registrations showing our pioneering van security shields and will let those viewing the comparison pictures decide if they have been copied or not.
Each page preserves the original description, historical context and the full available transcript.
Deadlocks fitted to a VW Transporter Van, see what you can do to secure your van and your contents. Don't be a victim of crime in these hard times you cannot afford to loose your tools! What is a deadlock? Watch this video to find
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This is another of our behind the scenes VLOG type episodes; showing a bit of the preparation and equipment involved in mobile van security installation or deadlocks and door shielding as we take a 2016 Renault Trafic van off of o
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Please share with Tradesmen and Van Owners, it's completely free to use and could save many tradesmen's and other van owners livelihoods. I am very proud to announce the arrival of my newest born, called VaVoid App! The VaVoid app
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This is the 1st of an exclusive behind the scenes series of VLOGS; showing what goes on at Sussex Installations in Eastbourne. Sussex Installations are known world wide for our expertise in van security with YouTube videos on this
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We always work so hard to try and give our customers the best quality workmanship, make the best possible products that we can and give the best after sales support that we are capable of. Today we reached an epic goal of 200 five
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V-Armour is the trade brand name that we will be wholesaling our exclusive products to dealers around the UK and beyond and we could use your help. Are you in the van security installation business? or know someone who is a dealer
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