The credit crunch still seems to be very much at large and is even affecting national driving schools. You may have heard that one of the UK’s largest driving schools, BSM (British School of Motoring) has been taken over by one of its biggest rivals, the AA, after operating for 100 years. Not only that, but the company was taken over for the price of £1! Now that really is as “cheap as chips”!
BSM have now been purchased
The driving school that taught the Queen to drive went into administration, causing a cut price take-over, leaving the AA driving school to buy the motoring organisation within minutes. BSM’s problems seemed to begin when they experienced a £10million management buyout in November 2009. The driving school had plans to reach an employment level of 3000 instructors but sadly failed, leaving the company open for sale.
There are many reasons that contributed to BSM’s downfall. One of them was the fact that they widely used trainee driving instructors; which is funny considering the AA’s main selling point is the fact that they don’t use trainee driving instructors! You’ll be happy to hear though, that you’re safe with driveJohnson’s, as we don’t use trainee driving instructors for reward.
BSM regularly started to appear on consumer programmes such as ‘watchdog’ because of their poor services, such as taking a pupil for a test in an un-taxed car, resulting in them being turned away by the examiner. Some instructors were not even turning up for their pupils test on the big day! The company also faced problems with their signature cars, Fiat 500 super-mini’s and were forced to replace 3,250 of them due to driving examiners complaining that the back of the car was too small for physical comfort.
What happens now?
Although all of the business jargon seems a bit dull, daily routines for driving schools in Bedford and learners, will remain the same as usual. Both company’s will continue to work under separate brands, but BSM will be in the care of AA’s head company, Acromas. Matthew Hammond, administrator for BSM, assured current learners that they will be able to carry on with their driving lessons as normal, stating that the sale would not affect anyone’s daily business.
Furthermore, despite the fact that BSM is now under the AA, BSM actually employs more driving instructors and teach more students to drive each year than the AA. The British School of Motoring has 2,100 instructors and teach 30,000 per year, while the AA have just 1,900 instructors and teach 25,000 learners a year.
How drivejohnson’s has helped
Anthony Johnson, the owner of driveJohnson’s, recently trained a trainee driving instructor who had failed his ‘Ability to teach’ test twice under BSM in Bedford. He was on his 3rd and final attempt, when fortunately Anthony Johnson helped him through the last stage of qualifying to become a driving instructor. Anthony said:
“Steven was in a right pickle, he was working under BSM, providing driving lessons in Bedford with no guidance. It was like they didn’t care, which to be fair they didn’t! After all, they had just been bought out by the AA for £1 and had head offices closing left, right and centre – poor Steven didn’t know where to turn. Steven was a great man and now that he has received the correct training and qualified, he will be a good acquisition for BSM. It will take time for the AA to sort all of this out. I look forward to seeing how they manage one company that uses qualified driving instructors, and another that don’t.”
With their promises of not interrupting daily routines, things should seem pretty normal for both instructors and their pupils . . . hopefully! If you still have any questions on the latest driving news or would like information on our driving instructor training, please feel free to contact us, and we will be happy to answer any queries you may have.
