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M.R. Army Surplus - coming to an airshow near you!

Owner Mark Roland: "We started the company in 2002 as a part-time hobby attending some military, Land Rover and airshows - at this time we had a Land Rover 101 and trailer to transport all our stand and stock from show to show. After selling our Land Rover and trailer at a show we were attending, we realised that a business opportunity had presented itself and we needed to go 'full-time' to capitalise on the potential."

"My wife and I both left our full-time jobs and concentrated on building the business - we both had many years of retail experience, both in managerial positions, so decided to start building the business with a website and providing a service to the Air Training Corps and Army Cadet Force by visiting them with our mobile shop of clothing and equipment. This proved very popular and we now attend many parade nights, weekend camps and annual camps with both the ATC and ACF around the country."

"Our first 'full time' season of shows was in 2003, when we attended a few airshows and some Land Rover and truck shows throughout our region. It was only in 2004 that we decided to concentrate on the airshow circuit as we believe this is where the majority of customers are."

"This year sees us attending nearly twenty airshows from May to October, reaching up to RAF Leuchars and down to RAFA Shoreham. We would like to attend many more, but the clashes of dates and the cost of many prohibits us from doing so. We don't just attend the 'big' ones; smaller airshows have just as much appeal as the larger ones and the costs are usually significantly less."

"The majority of stock is surplus British Forces clothing and accessories bought from the Disposal Services Agency who handle it for the MOD; two-thirds is used, bought by the pallet-load then graded and priced. Buying this way allows us to offer the customer the best value for money. We also stock many commercially made items that we feel our customers would like to purchase - boots, camping accessories, kids clothing, that sort of thing.
Whilst we stock items from the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, we like to specialise in Royal Air Force products. We have flying suits, full RAF Dress uniforms, G-suits, flying helmets and most things associated with today's RAF. If you have the money, we can even get you an ex-RAF Harrier or Jaguar! Due to demand we are starting to import US Flying Helmets, mainly HGU55s and similar."

"Attending the airshow circuit throughout the year is a hard job - the season now starts at the beginning of May and lasts until the middle of October. Travelling to and from airfields can mean many miles of driving, long hours of setting up the stall, in good and bad weather, then restocking for the next show. It can be a hard life, but we do get to see the Red Arrows many times!"

"As an incentive for Air-Scene UK readers, if you come and see us on our stall, spend £50 or more and mention 'Air-Scene UK', then we will give you an extra ten percent discount on your purchase! We also do Mail Order and are happy to send items around the world - we have just moved into a large warehouse where you are more than welcome to come and buy (by appointment)."

A list of shows where you can find M.R. Army Surplus this year:

May 18	Duxford Spring Airshow
May 25	Cold War Jets, Bruntingthorpe, Leics
June 1	RAF Cosford
June 7/8	Biggin Hill
June 15	Duxford Military Vehicle Show
June 21	Merlin Pageant, Hucknall Airfield
June 29	Old Buckenham Airshow, Norfolk
July 5/6	RAF Waddington
July 12/13	Duxford Flying Legend
July 26	Wallop 08 - AAC Middle Wallop Airshow
Aug 16/17	Rougham Air Display
Aug 24	Dunsfold Wings & Wheels
Aug 30/31	RAFA Shoreham
Sept 6/7	Duxford Airshow
Sept 13	RAF Leuchars
Oct 5	Duxford Autumn Airshow
Oct 10-12	Pickering, North Yorkshire War Weekend

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