Tell us a little bit about yourself
I was born and brought up in Aberdeen and still reside in this area. I am now a civilian driving instructor but for many years prior to this I served in the police force. In my younger days, outside work as a police officer and home life, my interests were very much sport orientated; I was particularly passionate about cricket. During my time in the police service, I was stationed at both Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire and Elgin in Morayshire. I played for local teams in these areas and also for the Scottish police cricket team. Age has caught up with me and I no longer play cricket but am still a keen observer and thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Lords earlier this year, courtesy of Kia.
How did you get started with Roadwise Driver Training?
I am a former police Class 1 driver and driving instructor and became a civilian driving instructor when I left the police force. During my time in the police service, I spent many years in the traffic department where, all too often, I saw the tragic consequences of simple driver error and blatant bad driving. During my time as a traffic police officer, I developed a passion for road safety. After I left the police service, I worked for two major defensive driver training companies where I delivered defensive driver training to both private individuals and corporate establishments. Defensive driving teaches you to navigate roads in such a way that you consciously reduce the dangers associated with driving. In 1994, I set up Roadwise Driver Training, which has now grown into a successful social enterprise in partnership with Aberdeen Foyer.
Why did you choose to become a social enterprise?
In 2005, we were contacted by Aberdeen Foyer, a local charity that prevents and alleviates youth homelessness and unemployment in the wider north-east community. The Foyer wanted to partner with a driver training company that could help young people get their driving licenses in order to improve their job prospects and boost their self-confidence. We developed a close relationship with Aberdeen Foyer and in 2012 they bought Roadwise.
I continue supporting the development of the business as managing director. The Foyer bought Roadwise in order to generate income for the charity to enable them to continue doing great work within the community in Aberdeen. We never actually set out to become a social enterprise, it just happened through our special relationship with Aberdeen Foyer.
Tell us about the work you do supporting disadvantaged groups in your local community
Working with people who have many challenges to live, work and learn independently is the social purpose of Aberdeen Foyer. Roadwise adds value to this through delivery of specialist programmes including Under-17 training, Pass Plus and group learner driver training programmes. Sadly, Grampian has one of the highest fatality rates for young drivers in the UK so it makes us even more passionate about improving road safety for everyone in Scotland. Therefore, in addition, we work with other local charities and initiatives around road safety amongst young people including Rrrrallye Youth Drive and Aberdeenshire Council (Momentum projects).
What are some of the biggest challenges of running a fleet business?
The biggest challenge has got to be ensuring you employ the right instructors. We’re always on the lookout for those unique qualities that make a great driving instructor and this is an ongoing process. In my opinion, discovering, nurturing and supporting the right people is a seven day a week job.
We offer a variety of interventions that are all aimed at improving behaviors and attitudes to safe driving for companies including defensive driving, UK road familiarisation and skid correction training plus delivery of presentations and interactive workshops; over the years it’s been an exciting challenge to discover what can work for a company and implement it.
Before 2008, we worked from my home office but after teaming up with Foyer, we moved into their premises. We are currently expanding the business beyond the north-east of Scotland and a key part of that process is our partnership with Kia. The relationship we have with Kia is excellent; it started at the beginning of this year and Kia have been great to deal with, supporting our ADIs and Roadwise to change over our fleet to Kia models. We are looking forward to developing this partnership over the coming years and value the relationship. In the future we hope that when you see a Roadwise vehicle, it’ll be a Kia car; five of our current fleet vehicles are already Kia models so we’re already on the way!
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start their own fleet business?
I wouldn’t because then they’d be in competition with us! I would say come and join our team if you are a good quality instructor.
Have there been any memorable moments over the last 21 years on the road?
Many! As a company we’ve carried out training as far afield as Kazakhstan and we’re now delivering much more training in the London area. We work with people from all over the world and meet amazing people every day. On the road, you have to ensure you’re always alert.You never know what someone is going to do. Only last week I asked someone to take the right-hand exit at a roundabout and they tried to turn right and go round it the wrong way. I’ve even seen a person driving through the centre of Aberdeen whilst playing bagpipes. It’s crazy what people do when behind the wheel. That’s what makes my job so interesting; you never know what you’re going to do or see on a day-to-day basis so you learn to always expect the unexpected.
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