A 400-year-old warning for a modern world…
I believe it was William Shakespeare who said, “All that glitters is not gold.”
I am by no means a literary expert, but I think the Bard hit the nail on the head there.
In a world now dominated by AI and digital trickery, that quote feels every bit as relevant today as it did in the 16th century. Probably more so.
Unfortunately many people have learned the hard way that appearances can be deceptive…
Barely a day goes by without another headline exposing some elaborate scam. If it’s not people losing thousands of pounds to deepfake investment schemes, it’s catfishing victims surrendering their savings and their hearts to relationships that never really existed.
Just last week, Leicester Police had to issue a warning after fraudsters used the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s (OPCC) phone number to scam people out of their hard-earned cash. The number appeared genuine, but the criminals’ intentions were anything but.
Of course, deception isn’t confined to sophisticated technology. Even a simple shopping trip can be a masterclass in misdirection. Be honest, how many of you have been seduced by a sleek-looking bag of gourmet crisps promising a transcendent taste experience, only to discover that three-quarters of the packet is filled with air!?!
I am not afraid to admit that I myself have been dazzled by glossy branding and a persuasive marketing spiel…
As a keen runner, I am always looking for ways to improve my performance. So whilst I was in London recently, I took the opportunity to visit a specialist running shop. It didn’t take long for a pair of ultra-light, high-tech trainers to catch my eye. Featuring aerodynamic lines, bold colour detailing and that pristine, just-unboxed sheen, they looked every inch the elite performance shoe.
Sensing a willing audience, the sales assistant proceeded to deliver the full performance. I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was something along the lines of “like running on air”. He meticulously checked that the shoe was the perfect length and width to give me “peak performance” and avoid injury.
By the time I left the shop, box in hand and wallet considerably lighter, I genuinely felt as though I might be in with an outside chance of taking on Usain Bolt.
Unfortunately for me, once I’d taken them on a couple of test runs around Stratford, my new miracle trainers turned out not to be quite the game-changing apparel that I had hoped…
It has been several days since my last run, and my knees are still really painful. So as much as it pains both my pride and my bank balance to admit it, I will be reverting to my trusted brand. Meanwhile, my daughter has listed the barely worn, allegedly “revolutionary” trainers on Vinted.
So much for running on air!
Sore knees aside, the real issue wasn’t the trainers; it was my willingness to mistake appearance for performance. And I see a similar pattern of misplaced confidence in the security barrier industry…
To the untrained eye, all shutters and grilles might look the same. And whilst I concede that they may indeed be similar in appearance, that is often where the similarities end… just ask a thief!
I have seen CCTV footage showing criminals cut through a competitor’s external shutter in just 30 seconds, flicking the interlocking laths aside as if they were made of polystyrene. Yet inside the same store, those thieves then encountered a Trellidor shutter protecting a high-value stock area – and that’s where their progress stopped. After several failed attempts, they gave up and left the store empty-handed. A reminder that not all barriers are created equal!
In addition to LPS1175 certification, our designs carry the Secured by Design badge – formal police recognition of their ability to deter and reduce crime. They also include built-in anti-grind protection and other features most people would never notice at first glance. And in my experience, it’s precisely those kinds of unseen details that matter most.
Take the rivets in our grilles, for example. To the naked eye, you may struggle to spot the difference between ours and a lower-priced alternative. We could switch to a cheaper version tomorrow and very few people would be any the wiser. Margins would improve, and prices might even fall.
But to do so would be false economy. Cheaper rivets wouldn’t deliver anywhere the kind of performance we demand, and they certainly wouldn’t last the 15 or so years that our current rivets are designed to endure.
For me, it is also a matter of integrity. Some of the UK’s leading supermarkets trust Trellidor to protect their premises precisely because we refuse to take those shortcuts and they know we never will.
So next time you’re comparing two products that look virtually identical, take a moment to consider what you can’t see.
The sparkle may catch the eye, but that doesn’t make it gold…