
BEST PRACTICE SPONSOR 2020
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
20 | GMK
ownership, with Bjorn’s two sons at
the helm of day-to-day management.
In order to raise the profile of our
brands, we opened a flagship store in
London in 2005. The Beretta Gallery
sells shotguns and specialist shooting
apparel, as well as luxury clothing and
accessories befitting the premium St
James location. The gallery also has a
concession in Harrods.
GMK has a third sales division
specialising in selling to government
bodies, often through tenders. It began
selling Federal ammunition to the UK
police’s firearms departments in 2004.
This division has grown steadily and
has supplied Benelli semi-automatic
shotguns and Steiner binoculars to the
British army. We now offer a large and
varied product range to our contract
customers beyond specialist firearm
products. For example, we offer ASP
batons and handcuffs not only to the
police but also to Border Force.
Shooting for sport
Following the Dunblane tragedy in
the late 1990s, private ownership of
handguns was banned in the UK and
as such is not part of our business.
The shotgun has long been popular
in the UK due to the variety of small
game, such as rabbits, grouse and
the native grey partridge. Indeed, an
entire gun-making industry grew up
in London and Birmingham, although
only a few high-end brands remain
today. Beretta occupies the middle
ground in the UK shotgun market.
Prices for a basic model start at just
over £1,000, while top-end hand-
engraved deluxe models can cost in
excess of £70,000.
While game-shooting is often
considered a pursuit of the rich, the
majority of those who pursue the sport
enjoy it on a far smaller scale. Local
communities and gamekeepers co-
operate with one another, and these
same people often help to protect
farmers’ crops by controlling our vast
pigeon population.
Clay pigeon shooting began as a way
of “getting your eye in” in preparation
for the shooting season but has
grown steadily in popularity since the
1960s and is now a sport in its own
right. The UK has a proud Olympic
shooting record, as does Beretta,
whose shotguns collected ten of the
possible 15 shotgun medals at the
Rio Olympics. There are currently over
600,000 registered shotgun certificate
holders in the UK.
Target rifle shooting, another Olympic
sport, is also popular in the UK. Long-
range shooting is particularly popular
and challenges the marksman to
calculate bullet drop and wind effect
over 400 metres. We also sell the
German Steiner binoculars and scopes
to this market and offer the world’s
largest ammunition brand, Federal,
which we import from the US.
Above: Beretta Gallery,
St James, London
Below: Amber Hill,
British Olympic hopeful
for Tokyo, sponsored by
Beretta
The UK has a
proud Olympic
shooting
record, as
does Beretta,
whose
shotguns
collected ten
of the possible
15 shotgun
medals at the
Rio Olympics
“
“
21GMK |
Countryside pursuit
Most of the countryside is farmed,
and the relationship between various
shooting activities and farming is
mutually beneficial. Effective pest
control and diversification makes farms
more viable businesses.
Shooting is more than just a hobby;
it is a passion embedded in a love of
the countryside. In short, those who
shoot in the countryside are committed
to preserving it. The various shooting
disciplines are enjoyed by a wide
spectrum of people.
Current estimates suggest that there
are between one and a half and two
million deer in the UK. It is believed that
without culling, this population would
double every three years, which would
be especially difficult for the vulnerable
small trees that are a popular food
source for them. There is also a healthy
fox population feasting on game birds
and lambs, among other prey.
GMK markets the Beretta-owned,
Finnish-manufactured Sako and
Tikka rifles to the UK’s 180,000
firearms owners, many of whom help
to manage the country’s deer and
foxpopulation.
Best shot
As a business, we are subject to the
strength of the economy. As we
import into the UK from abroad,
the strength of the pound has a
big impact on our margin. New
laws are another factor which can
hugely affect our business. Sudden
reactionary legislation can create a
great deal of uncertainty among our
customer base.
For understandable reasons, our
products are subject to much
regulation, and we accept that many
of our products are hard to understand
unless you have an interest in them.
We therefore urge government to
work closely with our trade bodies
when looking at legislation.
We understand that we operate
within a niche market and that, as a
result, our work is not always easy.
Maintaining a strong position in the
market is therefore essential to our
survival. We hope that the future
will bring us continued success and
allow us to continue to work with
our suppliers as we pursue future
productopportunities.
Shooting is
more than just
a hobby; it is a
passion
embedded in
a love of the
countryside
“
“
The Beretta headquarters in
the Gardone val Trompia, Italy
Detailed hand engraving of the finest
Berettas can take over 200 hours