Marshall of Cambridge was founded by David Gregory Marshall on 1st October 1909 in a small lock-up premises in Brunswick Gardens as a chauffeur drive company.

During the first world war, the chauffeur business continued, and the garage premises, which had relocated to Jesus Lane were used to help with servicing and maintenance of Army ambulances.

In 1921, Marshall became the first Austin distributorship for Cambridgeshire. Marshall entered the aviation business in 1929, opening its first, and small, airfield on what is now the Whitehill housing estate, providing flying training on de Havilland Gipsy Moth aircraft to local people which particularly included members of Cambridge University. Moving to the present airfield in 1937, the Company quickly became involved in teaching RAF pilots to fly and, during the course of the second world war trained over 20,000 pilots; one sixth of the total number trained for the Royal Air Force.

The Company strengthened its flying training skills by the establishment in 1938 of an ab initio flying instructor training scheme which enabled young men without previous flying experience to learn to fly and become flying instructors within a 14 week period. This scheme, which was an immediate success, was universally adopted by the Royal Air Force in 1941 and continues to this day.
During the Second World War, Marshall became involved with Lord Nuffield's Civilian Repair Organisation carrying out modification, repair and maintenance work on over 5,000 aircraft in support of the war effort.
David Marshall's son, Arthur, now later Sir Arthur Marshall, who was educated at Tunbridge School and Jesus College, Cambridge where he gained a First Class Degree in Engineering took over the running of the Company in 1942 upon the death of his father. As the result of the aircraft skills developed during the second world war and, with the development of its own Aircraft Design Office and in house manufacturing, post war the aerospace company became a natural sub-contractor to all the aircraft manufacturing companies in the United Kingdom.

The Company carried out work on a wide range of aircraft including the Avro Vulcan, the Vicker's Valliant, the Bristol Britannia, the Vicker's Viscount. The English Electric Canberra, the de Havilland Vampire and the de Havilland Venom.

In 1960, the Company began its strong links with the North American aircraft industry when it became the first Gulfstream Service Centre outside the USA. These US links were strengthened in 1966 when Marshall began a relationship with Lockheed martin in introducing the C-130K Hercules aircraft to Royal Air Force Service.

Since then, the Company has provided support to the Royal Air Force on an unbroken basis on the C-130 Hercules conducting over 300 major modifications which have included wing rebuilding, fuselage stretching and the installation of air to air refuelling equipment at the time of the Falklands War in 1982 in just 19 days.

More recently, The Company has helped Lockheed martin to introduce the new C-130J variant to Royal Air Force service and is also managing the Contractor Run Interim Logistics Support Organisation, on behalf of Lockheed martin in Swindon, supporting the Royal Air Force C-130J fleet at nearby RAF Lyneham.

In 1982, the Company further strengthened its relationship with Lockheed Martin when nine civilian TriStar aircraft were converted to Strategic Tanker Freighter Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. Marshall is a Sister Design Authority to Lockheed Martin for both the C-130 Hercules and the Lockheed TriStar.

The Company has also supported a number of airlines on a variety of aircraft types including Boeing 747, Boeing 767 and various Airbus types. Marshall Aerospace is also a Sister Design Authority to Boeing for the Royal Air Force fleet of Boeing E3 Airborne Early Warning AWACS aircraft which it has been responsible for the major servicing of since 1995.
Just after the second world war, Marshall began building specialist vehicles which, initially, included delivery vehicles for customers such as Whitbread and Chivers, before going on to build more than 80,000 vehicle bodies and tactical shelters in over 200 different configurations for the British Army.
Sir Arthur Marshall's son, Michael, was educated at Eton College and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he obtained an Honours Degree in History. He was commissioned a Royal Air Force pilot during national Service between 1950 and 1952 and joined the family business in 1955.

In 1963, he was appointed Managing Director of Marshall (Cambridge) Limited which has grown into the Marshall Motor Group which is, today, one of Europe's largest motor groups representing 19 16motor manufacturers at 15 different locations with 38 44franchise appointments.

In 1965, Michael Marshall was appointed Deputy Chairman of Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) Limited and assisted his father with the growth of the Aerospace and Vehicle Body Building businesses which have grown into Marshall Aerospace and Marshall Specialist Vehicles.  In 1989, following his father's retirement, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive, a position he continues to hold.