I'm looking for advice on where I can buy a razor suitable for a beginner in the UK, preferably from an online source. I know Merkur HD is recommended, are there any good UK sources?
I'll second this. I found these guys have great prices and they're quick with delivery too (I'm in Ireland and they only took 4 days). Post and Packaging charges are cheap too, in comparison with other places in the UK that I found. i.e. other places might have a cheaper razor, but with P&P would work out more expensive for me. They have most of the Merkurs, a few Parkers, and a Feather.i gut my sampler pack from this place,
edit
they have merkur at a good price and a good blade sampler pack,
http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acatalog/merkur-34-razor.html#a45
This is the one usually recommended for the beginner and very popular with many experienced guys as well.
The Gentlemans shop are great to deal with too.
Calexs - you could do a lot worse than the HD that Barbelus Maximus is selling. I bought a Merkur Progress from him yesterday and his stuff really is in very nice condition. The HD looked "as new", well worth his asking price.
That'll be just the 10% commission please Paul.
i gut my sampler pack from this place,
they have merkur at a good price and a good blade sampler pack,