SelectaDNA Marks Over 1.7 Million Tools & Equipment in Continued Fight Against Tool Theft

SelectaDNA Marks Over 1.7 Million Tools & Equipment in Continued Fight Against Tool Theft 

Tool theft costs UK tradespeople an estimated £800 million every year – but the fight back keeps gathering pace. We have now marked more than 1.7m assets across the country, more than eight times the 200,000-tool milestone we passed just 10 months ago in January 2026. 

Since June 2024, we've grown #StopToolTheft into one of the largest responses to tool theft in the UK, working alongside police forces, PCC offices, insurers and trade partners to deter thieves, support investigations, and return stolen tools to their rightful owners. 

From Westminster to the workshop 

#StopToolTheft grew out of the tradespeople-led rallies organised by Trades United, the first of which travelled from Brent Cross to Parliament Square in June 2024 to demand tougher action on tool crime. We answered that call, partnering with the Metropolitan Police to run mass tool-marking events – including what became the biggest mass tool-marking event yet, held at Toolstation in Bow, East London, backed by insurance broker Howden and CT1. 

A record year for recoveries 

Our marking scheme has directly supported police operations against the resale of stolen tools. At a car boot sale in Rainham, east London, the Metropolitan Police – working with Essex Police and trading standards – recovered around £50,000 of suspected stolen tools alongside stolen bikes, cash and counterfeit goods, leading to four arrests. 

We also supported the Metropolitan Police's largest-ever haul of stolen tools: an operation in Ilford, east London, that recovered around ten lorry loads of tools and equipment worth an estimated £2 million. Among the items recovered was a specialist Openreach fibre splicer, valued at around £2,000, identified after officers detected our marking and sent it to our accredited forensic lab for analysis – enabling its safe return to Openreach. Our forensic marking has also been credited with a 30% reduction in cable theft reported by Openreach. 

"Using accredited forensic marking solutions helps strengthen investigations, support evidence gathering, and deliver tangible outcomes," said Sergeant Dave Catlow of the Metropolitan Police. 

"Marking tools and equipment with SelectaDNA doesn't just help ensure stolen items find their way home," said Clair Frame, UK Sales & Business Development Director at SelectaDNA. "It also sends a strong signal to organised crime gangs that tool theft no longer pays." 

Partnerships across policing and industry 

We now work with police forces and PCC offices across England, including Cumbria, Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire & Isle of Wight, Hertfordshire, Humberside, Kent, Merseyside, the Metropolitan Police, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley, West Midlands and Wiltshire – several of which have run dedicated free tool-marking schemes, including Hertfordshire PCC's rollout to protect 50,000 tools, Thames Valley PCC's crackdown series, and a joint initiative with Travis Perkins and Sussex PCC covering a further 50,000 tools. 

We've also taken the #StopToolTheft message directly to tradespeople at industry events, appearing alongside partners including CT1, Checkatrade, Fix Radio, Rhino Insurance, PoweredNow, On The Tools, and Morgan Sindall. 

Taking the fight to Parliament 

Beyond frontline recovery work, we continue to support the wider campaign for legislative change – backing Trades United's ongoing Westminster rallies calling for reform of the Theft Act 1968 and the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, and taking the issue directly to Parliament. We attended a meeting at Parliament with Kemi Badenoch MP, alongside representatives from Balfour Beatty, Openreach, and the Metropolitan Police. 

A continued commitment 

"Passing 1.7 million tools & equipment marked is a real milestone for this campaign, and a reflection of how many police forces, trade partners and tradespeople themselves have got behind it since June 2024. Every one of those tools is a livelihood we've helped protect, and we're not stopping here," says James Brown, Managing Director at SelectaDNA. 

The milestone comes as our products launch in Jewson stores, with a three-month trial now rolling out across 28 branches nationwide – giving tradespeople another simple way to protect their tools at the counter. 

We encourage tradespeople who haven't yet protected their tools to visit selectadna.co.uk to find out more about the #StopToolTheft campaign and how forensic marking works. 

Want to run a tool marking event to support your community? Get in touch! 

For further information and images contact: Jessica Farrugia, Senior Marketing Manager for Selectamark. 
Phone: + 44 (0)1689 487435 
Email: [email protected]