ROY MARTIN GUNSMITH

PROTECTING THE REPUTATION OF SHOOTING

What year was the shop established?

The first shop was established by my father, Roy, back in 1976. Admittedly, we haven’t moved far. In fact our current shop is but a quarter of a mile away from our original premises.

Number of staff?

Altogether we have four members of staff. My dad, Roy Martin, who does the running of the workshop. Me, his son, Edward Martin. I run the actual shop. Nikki, who does the admin, and Jack, our recent apprentice gunsmith.

Increasingly, and in keeping with the times, I have been doing the social media, which although it is time consuming, I really enjoy, especially our YouTube channel. Here in the shop though, it is fair to say Nikki is charge of all of us.

The one member of staff you couldn’t live without and why…

Funnily enough, that would be Nikki. She keeps on top of all of our admin work, which, frankly, the rest of us simply don’t have the first clue about.

Tell us a little more about yourself, and why you’re running a gunshop. Tell us what your passions are…

Being Roy Martin’s son, I have been brought up in the trade, so it’s no exaggeration to say that it really is in my blood. I have always been a lover of shooting sports for as long as I can remember. I don’t know which means more to me, shooting and the history of the trade, or being the man to continue our family business that my father has spent near on 50 years building. We are a great team and share the same passion for English guns.

What has been the most successful product (or area) for you in the past year?

It’s very difficult to pick a specific product or brand but I do believe, like most businesses, we go in trends and that our trends are in keeping with the rest of the industry. As time goes by you get a bit of a spread, so whilst we have been in the top UK Browning dealers, we are also huge on GMK at the minute. I guess Berettas and Brownings never go out of fashion and continue to be successful every year. We do sell a lot of shotguns.

What’s your clientele like?

We have a lot of repeat business. We have customers that have been with us for over 40 years. Everyone is different but we cater to them all, from the English collector to the competition shooter wanting an alteration in our workshop. We have pigeon shooters, wildfowlers and clients that only ever shoot driven game. That’s the requirements of the clientele, which is very varied, but they are all good to deal with. And, from what I gather, they enjoy our service as much as we enjoy their custom. It’s good to be able to meet people’s requirements and assist them in their shooting, however that may be.

What was your best day ever?

It seems that nearly every day is a good day, apart from a few bad ones that we won’t go into here. It is hard to pinpoint an exact day but there is one time that springs to mind. I can’t recall the exact date but last season we had a very busy spell. By the time we actually sat down and looked at it at the end of the week, this local family-run business had sold more than ten very high-value guns. We were very pleased, even though it left our racks a little bare.

Who’s your best customer?

I couldn’t possibly pick. As soon as I think of one I’m remembering another. Here at Roy Martin Gunsmith, we have always felt extremely lucky to have such a great selection of customers. They all seem to excel in two things: humour and loyalty. We are incredibly grateful to all of them.

What’s your funniest or most memorable story about a customer?

Like most funny stories, there is a slightly sympathetic element to this one. Many years ago we had a gentleman come into the shop who took a liking to one of the tweed jackets that we had for sale at the time. It caught his eye as he was leaving and he couldn’t resist a return visit. He circled it a few times and was clearly interested, then he came back again and tried it on. Whether he was a bit shy about finally breaking into tweed or not I don’t know, but he came back and back over and again to look at this jacket. He was clearly captivated by it. He must have been in to the shop ten times before he eventually arrived with a firm and positive: “Here I am to buy the jacket!” Only to be told we had sold it the day before.

What do you anticipate will be the biggest trends for the next year?

I think that simulated game days will continue to grow and grow in popularity. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, they really are a great substitute for game shooting, but not only that, they are an affordable way to get people pulling the trigger as much as possible. It is also helps they aren’t on a clay ground.

When you order stock, what’s the first thing you put down?

Two of our main staples are the CompX 21g fibre from Hull Cartridge and the Evo 21g fibre from Gamebore. These two cartridges seem to be the main sellers for all the sim day enthusiasts we are seeing around these days.

Any other interesting facts about the business? Not only are we a retailer but we are also gunmakers and gunsmiths. Roy has produced a few best quality rifles and English guns in his time. Those who know, know. He is very proud to have served the local shooting community with repairs and renovations for over four decades. I’d take that one step further to the whole shooting community, across the country really.

What’s the best thing for you about working in a gunshop?

For me it’s being able to carry on with the family business whilst putting my own and more modern twist on it with things such as social media and our new YouTube channel, which seems to have really taken off.

Are people surprised when you tell them you own/run a gunshop?

We are rather fortunate that we live in a rural and heavily farmed community where shooting is taken for granted as part of country and daily life. GTN GTN