The Times is reporting that red driving school which went into administration on Feb 17th 2010 is to be saved as MCR (the administrators) seems to have found a buyer in Kelso Place a private equity specialist company who are have agreed to invest millions of pounds into LVG ltd the parent company.
I have no idea if this new buyer has carried out any due deligence, but the deal is supposed to be announced later on in the week.
The news will bring hope to the hundreds of Red driving school employees and the many PDI's who have paid up front for training to become a driving instructor.
Whether the rescue will signal a change in the way Red driving school (now part of a new company called 'driving results limited') markets and conducts its ADI instructor training is something that a lot in the industry will be keen to see.
Red driving school on TV
If you require high quality driving lessons from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032
Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don't just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.
Subscribe to my Driving Test Tips so you don't miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don't personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.
Red Driving School saved from administration by Buyer
Red Driving school for sale as it goes into administration!
Finally after many weeks/months of rumours flying about, it has been confirmed by the BBC, that red driving school has gone into administration, and the business is now up for sale due to lack of funding and investments.
LVG Ltd which is the parent company and has many divisions including instructor college, FTBC accountants, ADI news and red driving school was placed into administration yesterday and MCR the administration company says it is confident a buyer will be found.
Well with the recent bad publicity that the red driving instructor training operation which accounts for more than 80% of LVG's annual turn over, and the fact that their business model is fundamentally flawed and the recession bubble which they have been capitalising on has burst, I'm not very optimistic this will be the case, and my thoughts are with the many hundreds of people who have taken out barclays loans for training which they might never get!
I also wonder what will become of the instructors who have taken out driving school franchises on training, and the future of the fully qualified ADI's who might now have to start looking for a new school!
Then there are the many people who left comments on my becoming a driving instructor post who are trying to get out of a financial contract because they were mislead into ADI training either by the £30,000 carrot or a pussy salesperson.
I will be following the LVG ltd situation closely over the coming weeks, but I'm not very hopeful for the 400 plus employees, as when I first posted about the red driving school back in june 2006, I never thought that it will all be ending this way with administrations being called in!
Latest Update: Buyer found for red driving school
Red on BBC one programme.
If you require high quality driving lessons from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032
Subscribe to my Driving Test Tips so you don't miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don't personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.
Driving Lessons waste of money
Even if there was no credit crunch, you should not waste your money on driving lessons while preparing for the dsa practical car test.
I am not saying you shouldn't use a fully quallified, dsa approved, crb checked instructor when learning to drive, I'm just saying you don't have to waste your money in the process by doing somethings that many of my learner driver clients have done which has meant they have spent more money than they should have on driving lessons.
Once you have decided that you want to pass the driving test, your first step should be getting the theory test out of the way. You can still take driving lessons while preparing for this test, but due to the long dsa practical test waiting times (particularly in London), you need to pass this as soon as possible so you can book your practical test early and concentrate your training on the driving skills that the DSA examiner will be examining.
If you can afford to do so, take as many driving lessons as possible a week, you will make more progress this way as the skills will be fresher in your mind, and thus will in the long run spend less on lessons. On the other hand if you don't take regular lessons or take long breaks every few weeks, you will spend more money in the long run because of your lack of consistency in lessons.
Another thing you need to do in between driving lessons is to constantly remind yourself of the rules of the road by reading the highway code, you can not afford to have a gap in your knowledge, be it a road sign that you don't recognise, knowing when to give way to other traffic or recognising a keep clear sign painted on the tarmac. All these simple things are little driving errors/mistakes that I've observered during driving lessons and which eventaully shatters people's dreams during the practical assessment with the DSA examiner.
If you don't trust your driving instructor them you need to find another ADI, as you need to be able to accept advice given to you particularly if there are weaknesses that need working on in the run up to your appointment date, and if you don't have a car for private practise, then you will need the extra driving lessons to sort out these issues in order to pass the test at your first attempt.
The dsa test is not getting easier, and you will only be fooling yourself if you think that luck and a nice examiner with a few paid lessons is all you need to get that full british licence! Independent driving is being introduced to the test in october 2010, so you still have time to prepare before then, as this will be an additional hurdle which will mean more lessons and money to pass.
Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don't just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.
Subscribe to Driving Test Tips so you don't miss any future articles or get updates direct to your inbox by Email.
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