Doug Florent talks to Nick Woodbridge, Sporting Gun - Nov. '03
Q:- HOW did you get involved in shooting?
A:- My first taste of it was at the West London Shooting Ground in Northolt when I was 21. Mr Rose, the manager at the time, taught me to shoot. I enjoyed English Sporting so much that I decided there and then to buy a gun and the chance came when I went to the British Open that year. Ray Ward had a stand and I ended up buying a Miroku O/U for £130. I remember saying to myself "the day I can blame the gun for missing, I'll sell it". If there was ever a testament to the makers it's the fact that I've still got it.
Q:- WHAT came next?
A:- I got involved in FITASC Sporting and with my wife Shirley competed in numerous events around the world. It's a fantastic sport and we enjoyed it immensely - in fact we loved every minute and met some terrific people, not to mention new friends. However, the travelling got more and more difficult to fit in with our growing business commitments and we had to cut right back on overseas shoots.
Q:- SO YOU stopped shooting?
A:- No - in fact I probably ended up doing more, but much closer to home. Part of my business at the time involved running promotional events for British Airways and this led to me renting a ball trap layout at West London and then adding DTL and sporting layours to it. That's when my interest in the gun trade really got started.
Q:- WHERE did you go from there?
A:- The success I was having at West London prompted me to start up a gun club, which I did with the help of Mr Rose and Mr Richmond-Watson, owner of the ground. This proved a great success and was instrumental
in me opening a shop - the London Gun Co. in Greenford in 1982. In 1988 I bought Jericho Farm in Oakley which Shirley ran while I commuted to Greenford every day. Commuting didn't suit me so I consolidated the businesses in Oakley from where the Oxford Gun Co. - and my shooting school - is now run.
Q:- ANY regrets about centring the shop on Oxfordshire?
A:- None whatsever, the location is perfect. I've got Shirley, daughter Nicky and son David all working here. David works during holidays from school, where he also runs his own gun club. All of 'em are very keen to promote shooting as an activity that anyone can enjoy and we have good facilities which help disabled people and those with learning difficulties to try shooting. I like to think that we are community minded and we encourage local people to come along to see how much fun shooting can be. The monthly have-a-go days are very popular with a thousand new clients per year over the last twelve years turning up to try their hand at clays with our full-time instructor Steve Richards. We also offer corporate days (plus hen or stag parties!) which include not only the clay pigeon shooting but also archery and air guns. There are a large number of regulars who come from all over the UK and overseas to use the club, buy guns and compete in the league we run.
The gun shop has a range of products covering virtually all aspects of shooting and shooting accessories and I specialise in shotguns. The full workshop facilitieis boast an ex-Purdey gunsmith and the shop has a number of famously owned guns. No, I've got no regrets whatsoever.
Q:- DO YOU have any pet hobby-horse where shooting's concerned?
A:- I believe passionately that this business of ours is for local people and I'm proud to provide an amenity which would not be otherwise available. A local authority would never offer clay pigeon shooting, but they have no qualms about spending thousands of £s on sports centres and such like.
Q:- AND what about gun laws?
A:- We've got the strictest in the world and any further restrictions on legitimate users would be
wrong. The handgun ban was badly managed and has not stopped the sale and use of illegal guns - it merely stopped their legal use by responsible sportsmen and women. Around £80 million was paid in compensation to handgun owners but nearer £200 million went in costs. That money would have been better spent if £50 million had been given to the police to manage gun crime on the streets and £50 million given to HM Customs and Excise to control the import of illegal weapons. The NHS which would have most probably been very grateful to receive the remaining £100 million.
If you visit any Accident & Emergency Unit on a weekend you will find a large number of children who've been injured in sports other than shooting. Yet shooting's exemplary safety record is rarely highlighted in a Press that's mainly ill informed and poor at presenting shooting as a sport.
The current proposals to "control" field sports worry me because the shooting industry is worth many millions of pounds to the UK economy. Any further restrictions on the right to shoot would cause a lot of problems in many areas.
Doug's favourites
Would love to own a McKay Brown 20 Bore o/u
Game dish - game stewHip flask filler - can't drink spirits due to radiotherapy treatment, but does enjoy the occasional Baileys.
Venue - a Scottish grouse moor.
Cartridge - the one that hits things!Fantasy shooting partner
Percy Stanbury (of The Stanbury Technique fame)
I remember Shirley persuading Percy to have a shot at one event we attended. The old boy had tunnel vision by then so he could only take going away birds. I now have the gun Percy used on that last session of clays and I keep it as a treasured reminder.
Nick Woodbridge, questionning Doug Florent, Sporting Gun November 2003