BBC News Online: UK

Ex-pats net Marmite lifeline

The yeast extract paste and sage and onion stuffing came top of a list of things ordered from expatshopping.com since it launched on Monday.

The website, set up by two former soldiers, lets them order up to 1,500 of their favourite brands.

Richard Finch and Simon Aldrich were both military policemen who had served abroad and understood the desperation of ex-pats for British "essentials".

They came up with their business plan when they met in a trench in the Territorial Army.

Global orders

"It's a service that I missed while I was abroad," Mr Finch told BBC News Online.

He said the site was attracting huge business. The biggest surprise was the way the site was attracting families, he added.

"We have had orders for Pampers nappies and one ex-pat in Slovakia who wanted to get nylon tights for his wife."

They have also had inquiries from British High Commissions across the world.

A £250,000 automated warehouse in Osbaldwick, Yorkshire, sends goods to 239 different countries from Albania to Azerbaijan and Zambia to Zimbabwe.

The company currently employs five people but following the success of the first week's trading that is set to increase.

"It's going to increase quite dramatically," Mr Finch said.

The goods cost the same as they do in the UK but orders include transport costs.