The owners of a family business have been left feeling like "giving up" after their company van was broken into and their tools were stolen. On Monday, May 29, while on holiday in Swansea, Christian Rees got a call to say that his van had been emptied of his work equipment.
The owners say their van was broken into at around 2am on Bank Holiday Monday, May 29, resulting in them losing over £4,000 in tools, materials and hours of work lost due to the incident. Police have confirmed they are investigating the incident.
Chris and his wife Mel set up their electrical business Treganna Electrical Ltd in January 2022 in the hopes of being able to spend more time with their three young children. The company van was at their family home in a quiet cul-de-sac in Pontcanna at the time of the break in which the family say has left them "shaken."
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Mel told WalesOnline: "I'm afraid to just be in our house, I go to sleep in the night time and I'm constantly hearing noises. It makes me feel more alert [and] I’m nervous. If I’m home alone I’m looking at the windows and constantly on edge." Chris added that the incident "shook us up quite bad."
The tools that were stolen were the only ones the company owned, meaning they have had to replace everything to continue working and trading. "They took everything, down to the last screw," Mel said. "They had a field day in our van." She added that the pair's hard work had been "taken away" by people "who just thought that it was okay for them to do this, not thinking that we’ve got a family to provide for and a house to keep over our heads.”
The family also had to cut their holiday short - one that they had saved for - and come home to "devastation" after the theft. Chris said: "We were due to see some friends Monday but we changed plans and ended up making our way straight back."
Posting their story on social media, Chris and Mel hope to alert people to be more vigilant to crimes like this. Mel said they don't want people "to look at us as a charity case, but more so to alert everybody that it is happening and it is happening more frequently.”
After sharing their story, the Rees' have received kind offers and warm words from their community and clients. “We’ve got a really great community around us. We’ve had so much support, people wanting to help us, offering us tools," Mel said. "We have a really great network of family and friends around us as well as clients. Our clients have been brilliant.”
The family have reported the incident to South Wales Police and have passed over their CCTV footage. A spokesperson for the force said: "Anyone with any information, or who may have been offered any tools for sale in unusual circumstances, is asked to contact South Wales Police and quote reference 2300175357."
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