Our Story
The Early Years
Every good story has a beginning, and RLV Aerospace PRO is no exception. Although the origins of the company date back to 2009 under our former name, Ubisource Product Marketing Ltd, the actual story goes back to the mid-to-late 1970s, when Jonathan's father brought him home "Timothy's Book Of Aircraft," which sparked a lifelong interest in Aviation. In 1987, whilst still at school, Jonathan wrote the Military aviation combat role-playing game “World War 3” based on a Cold War scenario in the seemingly far-flung future of 1994. He didn't actually get to take to the air however until the 1990s and a quick look at his Pilot log book shows it was from Netherthorpe Flying Club EGNF Cessna 152 G-BZHE with a chock to chock flight time of only 30 minutes!
He spent most of the 1990s until 2004 visiting/living and/or working in various parts of America (which is a story in itself). Coming back to England, he took the first job he was offered, which was supposed to be just for a few months, working for a Cast Stone company in financial trouble. After a few weeks, the Sales and Marketing Director resigned, and unknown to Jonathan at the time, her replacement, Barry Stone, would become a founding Director of Ubisource/RLV in 2009, resulting in a business relationship of many years!
Fast forward to 2009 and Barry Stone and Jonathan England founded what was known then as Ubisource Product Marketing (changed to RLV in 2015). They laugh about it today over coffees, but back then everything was "by the seat of the pants". The office computer cost £25, and the software they used literally cost 50p from a charity shop. The original office at Cromford Mills was, however, very nice, and the commute to work by the peaceful Canal via bike or foot made a great antidote to those stressful early days, each wondering on the journey home, "will we be in business next week?"
One of their first clients was an aircraft interiors start-up company based at Kemble in Gloucestershire. This opened up opportunities for more Aviation work, and soon they were selling Aircraft Hangars, MRO Services, Aircraft Parts/ Avionics, Executive Jet Charter, Airport Facilities Solutions, Aviation Consulting Services, and much more.
Much has changed since those early shaky days, but the company's commitment to the Aviation industry, thinking outside the ordinary, going the extra mile, and providing great results for their clients has not. Today RLV PRO is a 100% family-owned company, with a wealth of direct aviation industry experience available to companies globally.
Experience that is hard to beat anywhere in the world....
Enjoy this Scrapbook of a few Aviation highlights and memories from those early years.
