RED Driving School bolsters board with appointment of Neil Cunningham as Non-Executive Chairman
RED Driving School, one of the UK’s largest driving schools, has appointed Neil Cunningham as Non-Executive Chairman to support the business’ expansion into corporate driver training and wellbeing.
With over 30 years’ experience working across the automotive service industry, Cunningham is well-placed to support the business through this period of growth.
Cunningham has a wealth of experience working in fleet and vehicle rental for private equity owned and listed businesses including household names Europcar and Hertz. Most recently he was Group CEO of Kindertons Group, the fully integrated credit hire business.
The appointment follows RED’s acquisition by a private equity consortium led by Tri Mountain and Ashridge Capital in 2019. The business has gone from strength to strength and expanded its service offering from Instructor Training to become one of the UK’s largest and most successful driving schools. RED is now seeking to further accelerate its growth and profitability, with a special focus on the provision of Driver Risk Management services to the B2B sector.
In March 2020, RED acquired corporate training provider NFE. Cunningham has been brought on board following the successful integration of this business into the RED Driver Risk Management and Wellbeing brands. This acquisition makes RED one of the biggest corporate driver training players in the UK, offering bespoke training services to clients of all sizes. The business is DVSA accredited to train driving Instructors to the “Fleet Trainer” standard and provides a full suite of in-person and virtual corporate training and wellbeing services.
In his new role, Cunningham will support the continued development of corporate Driver Risk Management and Wellbeing, helping client businesses ensure they are fulfilling their duty of care towards their drivers. He will also play a pivotal role in driving new acquisitions for the business, as RED seeks to establish itself as the market leader in corporate training solutions.
Neil Cunningham commented on the appointment: “I was delighted to be asked to be the Non-Executive Chairman of RED Driving School. I have long admired RED and the business’ dedication to the success of its driving instructors and learner drivers. The company has a strong commitment to road safety for all drivers, and I’m excited to help make Red Driver Risk Management an important part of future expansion.”
Ian McIntosh, CEO of RED Driving School said: “We are very pleased to welcome Neil to our team. A major focus for us is helping the business world meet its training obligations with respect to all employees driving on business. Neil’s extensive background in the corporate fleet market brings a wealth of experience to our team and we look forward to developing the RED Driver Risk Management business.”