ABOUT ME.

Established in 2024 to become a one stop shop for Approved and Potential driving instructors.

Simon Stevenson ADI MIAM

Introduction

Let me introduce myself.

Hi! I'm Simon Stevenson I got into the driver training industry in 2016. I qualified to become a driving instructor first time around, and have, since qualifying found a passion for the job.

If I'm honest, the company I trained with, were your typical company that has zero interest in the instructor but lots of interest in the money they can make out of you.

And this is where my passion for the industry has come.

I don't want others to fall into the trap that I did.

Let me, let you know, a little bit about my history

When I left school, I became an engineer, carrying out a 4 year apprenticeship. At the end of those 4 years I was a qualified Toolmaker.
But although I enjoyed engineering, I felt the path of the company I worked for was not going to bring me into a path that was fruitful for me, so I changed companies.
I worked for some big brand names, Thorn EMI Fergusson, Dimplex heating, as a maintenance engineer and thoroughly enjoyed my time with these companies, along with some smaller ones, but they still didn't give me the satisfaction I was looking for in a career.

Looking back now, my redundancy from Thorn EMI Fergusson's was one of the best things that happened to me, in that it made me look into other fields.

Linking my engineering background and the skills I had been taught during my apprenticeship, along with numerous other skills as a maintenance engineer, I furthered my skill set by qualifying as a bricklayer.
Having qualified, I set myself up in the property maintenance field and ran my own business for the first time in 1996.

As this career took off, I also had the opportunity to invest in running a retail outlet. In just a few years I ended up not only having my building business, but also 3 retail outlets. These ran together for a period of 25 years. But, retail was becoming harder and harder to make a living from, especially with the rise of internet shopping, and too much red tape on building works, made the job considerably harder with paperwork.
Knowing that I intended closing the shops at the end of their property leases, I needed to find a new career. The building work had taken its toll on my back and retail was just a dead end road. This is when I realised I wanted a career doing something that was going to not feel like a job, and something I was always told is, find a job that you actually enjoy and it won't feel like a job. 
I've enjoyed driving all my life, and looking back at the years I had done motor racing for, when jobs as a driving instructor came up, this was my time to shine.
It didn't take me long to decide that this is the right career for me, and I dived in head first, and here I am today.
 
Looking back at some of my motor racing days, they really had a huge impact on how I instruct now. It might have just felt like a really good laugh at the time, but the skills and knowledge I gained from doing this has been truly beneficial as a driving instructor.

In 1999, I found myself with a lot of my local friends who were nutters, joining a motor racing circuit.
And my first experience of Motor Racing was National Banger Racing!

The Banger Racing Days

However! Banger Racing was not kind to my bones, and in hindsight not good to my health either.
Yet it did allow me to have experienced full on crashes.
Vehicles ploughing into the side of me, flat out into the rear of me, and full on head-on's with my friends, cos it was fun..........at the time!

So I evolved into a slightly gentler form of
Motor Racing

Called Prodstox Racing. The purpose of the race was to be first over the finish line, but to overtake another vehicle, you had to spin them out first.
This was a skilled form of motor racing if you did it properly, but if you got it wrong, you could quite easily take yourself out of the race. Still a contact form of motor racing, but definitely requiring less cars to be built, and gentler on the body. 

After a few years of doing this class of racing, I wanted to get into more competitive types of racing.
Not because I was good at it per se, but because the cars lasted considerably longer, and contact became substantially less. These were all standard production cars. And over the remaining years of my racing I raced in 
Production A's B's Modified C's & Super Saloons.
Although I always maintained vehicles myself since I learnt to drive, motor racing gave me so much more knowledge behind the mechanics of a car. Weight distribution, balancing the car while racing, getting additional power from the engine, tracking and it's importance, locking differentials, and so much more.

Sadly, the motor racing came to an end.

In 2014, the land owner where our racing circuit was decided to sell the land for a new housing estate, so the track closed.

But for me, I wasn't done with motor sport.
I managed to pick up a Land Rover Discovery 1 from a scrap yard, totally rebuilt it, and had 5 awesome years with my young family at weekends travelling around the South Coast, on MOD sites, 4x4 off-road sites, and general green lanes around the South Downs, experiencing some views that you would never normally see.

The Landy

When I purchased it
Requiring a LOT of work
After all the work
All floors replaced plus load of other welding, Lift kit , Winch fitted,
Engine rebuilt, Led lighting, snorkel, and loads more 
Face lift time
Don't know what I was thinking, but it was fun all the same.
A good days off-roading
Don't think the wife has happy with all the mud on the driveway.
Water? What water!
The joys of a snorkel.
Hill? What Hill?
These things are so capable.
Well and truly stuck!
All of the fun.
Ghostbusters wanna be!
We all love Halloween

So, let me get you up to date.

As I mentioned earlier, the training company I signed up to in my opinion had zero interest in me, but lots of interest in a healthy bank account.
You could argue, well that's what business is all about. But for me, this was a brand new career, and I wanted as much backing as I could possibly get, and to be honest I NEVER spoke with someone from the company once!
They never rang to ask how I was getting on, not even a text. I paid my money, the Part 2 and 3 training was carried out by outsourced businesses, and I qualified.

Now you could argue that, they must have done a good job because I qualified first time. And there I would have to disagree.

I qualified, because the 2 outsourced trainers were good, and that I had such a good background in engineering and a passion for driving from my motor racing days, that I found evolving into the industry very easy.

So what have I done since qualifying?

I have attended many different courses.
1. Because I wanted to be the best I could.
2. To see who else was out there offering training courses that would increase my knowledge and to see if they were any good.

My very first course was with the lovely 
Lou Walsh. Lou inspired me to just learn learn learn, and I've not stopped.

Continued learning with:-
Tri coaching Partnership - Train the trainer course.
Mick Knowles and Lee Jowlett
IAM Roadsmart Advanced Driver - Qualified
Qualified Coach with ICF International Coaching Federation
Qualified Coach with EMCC European Mentoring and Coaching Council
Qualified Coach with AC Association for Coaching
Qualified Coach with Optimus Coach Academy
Driving Test Nerves Specialist with Lofaway2pass
Qualified First aider with Nuco Training
Road Safety GB - Ageing Driver Course
SDSA - Qualified level 2 4x4 Off-road and Handling Safety
Graham Mylward - Driving with Dementia

I also regularly attend CPD events quarterly with the SDIA

In addition to the training courses I've attended, I have been :-
Shortlisted with Intelligent Instructor Awards 2019 & 2021
Won two awards from the SME UK Transport Awards in 2024 & 2025
I have written 2 Driving Instructor Training manuals
Produced a 90 page curriculum pack for learners.
Built the ADIPDI- resource website

And right up to date
Now offering the GIFT Driving Instructor Training, to include an Online course (Which is currently being reviewed for CPD Accreditation)

I am a member of :-
The SDIA
The ADINJC
Institute of Advanced Motorists IAM
The Honest Truth
VISION ZERO
ICO
MYDRIVETIME

And in addition to all that, I also instruct at the world renowned GOODWOOD Motor Circuit.
Offering tuition to 
Under 17's
Skid pan training
4x4 Off-Road experiences
and
Autosolo racing

GOODWOOD Instructing

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