I began collecting antique guns when I was quite young. My school was opposite the Caladonian, now known as Bermondsey market and I found a few bargains there.

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I left school at 14 to work as an auctioneer's porter at Benjamin Norman and Son, one of only two auction rooms in the City of London at that time.

I started trading in antique guns and antiques in general with my father in 1967 as W.J.Slough & Son from our shop in Aldersgate Street in the City of London and later in Farringdon Road opposite Hatton Garden.

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In 1975 I set up my own antique gunshop in Church Street, Hereford offering antique guns for sale including cased pairs of antique duelling pistols both flintlock and percussion. Trading as John Slough of London where, as well as antique guns for sale, I sold best London guns (shotguns).

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I specialised in customising modern pistols for the growing sport of practical pistol shooting and for use by our Special Forces.

This led to my designing a 9mm pistol - the Spitfire - and getting it into production in Hereford. It was being trialled by the British Army when the handgun ban intervened.

I diversified this side of my business to restoration and conservation of cannon and artillery from the former British Empire.

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My special interest is in antique cased pairs of English pistols and most business is done on the internet and at major arms fairs in England, in particular the London Antique Arms Fair of which I was chairman for the past 15 years..

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I am a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, Chairman of the Passchendaele Salute, an honorary member of the Arms & Armour Society and the Muzzle Loaders' Association of Great Britain. With a lifetime's knowledge of antique guns I have seen the rise and rise of their value over the past 50 years and believe that in today's market there is no safer or more rewarding investment.