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Marshall SV was founded in 1946 under the name of Marshall Motor Bodies Division.
During the post Second World War lull in aviation, the reduction in aircraft work led to a diversification into vehicle body building. Aircraft fitters built the first bodies on commercial vehicle chassis which were sold to local and national companies such as Chivers, Millers and Whitbread. The early work of Marshall SV included refurbishment of London Transport buses, this led to the Company going on to build over 90,000 vehicle bodies and more than 5,000 tactical shelters in over 200 configurations for the Ministry of Defence.
Some very early Marshall SV products included Black Marias for the Metropolitan Police, early state-of-the-art outside television broadcasting vehicles for the BBC, as well as radar vans for Marconi, ambulances for the Scottish Ambulance Service and military ambulances for the British Armed Forces. In all, Marshall SV has built three separate generations of ambulances for the Armed Forces with the last batch completed in 2002, which are the current ambulances in military service today.
During the 1950s and 1960s Marshall SV manufactured a wide range buses; they took over bus production from Mulliners which led to the delivery of almost 5,000 buses. More recently the Company built a number of buses for London Transport and other bus operating companies around the country. Marshall SV discontinued building buses in 2003 when the Bus Division was sold to Horizont.
In 1957 Marshall SV worked closely with the National Research Development Corporation and Tom Bacon, the inventor of the fuel cell. The Company and Tom Bacon successfully developed a three kilowatt fuel cell powered by hydrogen and oxygen which was demonstrated on an electrical forklift truck. The technology was later developed by Pratt and Witney in the United States and received an accolade from President Nixon when manned flight to the moon was made possible by the use of these fuel cells.
The Company’s diverse manufacturing abilities were particularly well demonstrated in 1963 when they received an order from RAE Farnborough to manufacture expendable sleds to test ejector seats for aircraft. The sleds were of timber construction and powered by rocket motors capable of accelerating to around 500 mph. They ran on a rail system constructed at Pendine Sands and were truly expendable as they all finished up in the sea!
From the 1960s to the end of the ‘90s Marshall SV worked on a wide range of projects, these include: the manufacture of a vast number of support vehicles for the Armed Forces; special vehicles for the Queen’s Flight and the RAF’s Support Harrier Force; the first airportable containers for the Rapier Weapon System developed by the British Aircraft Corporation; specially modified vehicles for the Special Air Service (SAS); engineering mock-ups of armoured command vehicles and armoured signal vehicles for the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE). The Company continued to build ambulances - for the Dutch Army as well as the British Army; developed the construction of a highly modified Land Rover chassis for the Armed Forces, including gunship installations; supplied special vans to Cambridgeshire Constabulary for police dog handlers; and even a racing car transporter for BRM. Shelters were in great demand and the Company received numerous orders from the British Aircraft Corporation and the Army.
Towards the end of the 1990s, building on their earlier reputation, Marshall SV developed and manufactured curtain sided vehicles for Green King and Whitbread. The cargo vehicle building business continued from strength to strength with orders received for several thousand vehicles. It was also at this time that the concept for the DROPS Flatrack was born, utilising the expertise of both Motor Bodies and the Aircraft Division for the design. Over 10,000 of these unique units were supplied to the MOD and these have subsequently been demonstrated during both Gulf Wars. Marshall SV has also been prime contractor for the supply of Mobile Field Hospitals, Power Pack Repair Facilities and Mobile Bakeries.
With the British Armed Forces’ shift from a Cold War emphasis to Rapid Reaction Expeditionary Force, Marshall SV’s military business has evolved in recent years from Equipment Manufacturer to Systems Integrator. Today, the military business is centred on providing rapidly deployable systems for the UK MoD and military customers worldwide, for use in a wide range of situations and extreme environments as well as for humanitarian operations and by the United Nations.
Since 2000 Marshall SV has worked on new and innovative projects. A range of modular medical facilities have been developed for the National Health Service and supplied to several hospitals, including a number of operating theatre and clinic units for Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Incident Response Units and Prime Mover vehicle systems have been designed and manufactured for use by the Fire Service and solutions developed for the deployment of counter-measures equipment to satisfy the UK Government’s National Resilience program.
Marshall SV has designed Integrated Ground Stations for the Army’s Stand-off Radar (ASTOR) project and the Battlefield Communications project (Cormorant). The Company is currently engaged in the manufacture of Ground Station Shelters for the MoD’s highly prestigious Watchkeeper surveillance UAV (unmanned air vehicle) programme and is involved in the manufacture of ground-launched low cost surveillance UAVs.
A sizeable Product Support department has also been developed providing Contractor Logistics Support to the Company’s own products as well as third party equipment and whole fleet support.
60 years on history repeats itself as Marshall SV begins work on a project to supply the MoD with 7,000 Cargo Vehicles that will replace the Army’s existing fleet. Yet again at the cutting edge of technology - a £1.5m investment in a robotic welding facility, a new state-of-the-art Zinc Phosphate and Cathodic Electro Dip facility, together with the use of Computer Aided Design and Finite Element Modelling have created a lighter and stronger truck which will last long into the future.
During the post Second World War lull in aviation, the reduction in aircraft work led to a diversification into vehicle body building. Aircraft fitters built the first bodies on commercial vehicle chassis which were sold to local and national companies such as Chivers, Millers and Whitbread. The early work of Marshall SV included refurbishment of London Transport buses, this led to the Company going on to build over 90,000 vehicle bodies and more than 5,000 tactical shelters in over 200 configurations for the Ministry of Defence.
Some very early Marshall SV products included Black Marias for the Metropolitan Police, early state-of-the-art outside television broadcasting vehicles for the BBC, as well as radar vans for Marconi, ambulances for the Scottish Ambulance Service and military ambulances for the British Armed Forces. In all, Marshall SV has built three separate generations of ambulances for the Armed Forces with the last batch completed in 2002, which are the current ambulances in military service today.
During the 1950s and 1960s Marshall SV manufactured a wide range buses; they took over bus production from Mulliners which led to the delivery of almost 5,000 buses. More recently the Company built a number of buses for London Transport and other bus operating companies around the country. Marshall SV discontinued building buses in 2003 when the Bus Division was sold to Horizont.
In 1957 Marshall SV worked closely with the National Research Development Corporation and Tom Bacon, the inventor of the fuel cell. The Company and Tom Bacon successfully developed a three kilowatt fuel cell powered by hydrogen and oxygen which was demonstrated on an electrical forklift truck. The technology was later developed by Pratt and Witney in the United States and received an accolade from President Nixon when manned flight to the moon was made possible by the use of these fuel cells.
The Company’s diverse manufacturing abilities were particularly well demonstrated in 1963 when they received an order from RAE Farnborough to manufacture expendable sleds to test ejector seats for aircraft. The sleds were of timber construction and powered by rocket motors capable of accelerating to around 500 mph. They ran on a rail system constructed at Pendine Sands and were truly expendable as they all finished up in the sea!
From the 1960s to the end of the ‘90s Marshall SV worked on a wide range of projects, these include: the manufacture of a vast number of support vehicles for the Armed Forces; special vehicles for the Queen’s Flight and the RAF’s Support Harrier Force; the first airportable containers for the Rapier Weapon System developed by the British Aircraft Corporation; specially modified vehicles for the Special Air Service (SAS); engineering mock-ups of armoured command vehicles and armoured signal vehicles for the Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE). The Company continued to build ambulances - for the Dutch Army as well as the British Army; developed the construction of a highly modified Land Rover chassis for the Armed Forces, including gunship installations; supplied special vans to Cambridgeshire Constabulary for police dog handlers; and even a racing car transporter for BRM. Shelters were in great demand and the Company received numerous orders from the British Aircraft Corporation and the Army.
Towards the end of the 1990s, building on their earlier reputation, Marshall SV developed and manufactured curtain sided vehicles for Green King and Whitbread. The cargo vehicle building business continued from strength to strength with orders received for several thousand vehicles. It was also at this time that the concept for the DROPS Flatrack was born, utilising the expertise of both Motor Bodies and the Aircraft Division for the design. Over 10,000 of these unique units were supplied to the MOD and these have subsequently been demonstrated during both Gulf Wars. Marshall SV has also been prime contractor for the supply of Mobile Field Hospitals, Power Pack Repair Facilities and Mobile Bakeries.
With the British Armed Forces’ shift from a Cold War emphasis to Rapid Reaction Expeditionary Force, Marshall SV’s military business has evolved in recent years from Equipment Manufacturer to Systems Integrator. Today, the military business is centred on providing rapidly deployable systems for the UK MoD and military customers worldwide, for use in a wide range of situations and extreme environments as well as for humanitarian operations and by the United Nations.
Since 2000 Marshall SV has worked on new and innovative projects. A range of modular medical facilities have been developed for the National Health Service and supplied to several hospitals, including a number of operating theatre and clinic units for Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Incident Response Units and Prime Mover vehicle systems have been designed and manufactured for use by the Fire Service and solutions developed for the deployment of counter-measures equipment to satisfy the UK Government’s National Resilience program.
Marshall SV has designed Integrated Ground Stations for the Army’s Stand-off Radar (ASTOR) project and the Battlefield Communications project (Cormorant). The Company is currently engaged in the manufacture of Ground Station Shelters for the MoD’s highly prestigious Watchkeeper surveillance UAV (unmanned air vehicle) programme and is involved in the manufacture of ground-launched low cost surveillance UAVs.
A sizeable Product Support department has also been developed providing Contractor Logistics Support to the Company’s own products as well as third party equipment and whole fleet support.
60 years on history repeats itself as Marshall SV begins work on a project to supply the MoD with 7,000 Cargo Vehicles that will replace the Army’s existing fleet. Yet again at the cutting edge of technology - a £1.5m investment in a robotic welding facility, a new state-of-the-art Zinc Phosphate and Cathodic Electro Dip facility, together with the use of Computer Aided Design and Finite Element Modelling have created a lighter and stronger truck which will last long into the future.