Learner drivers across the North of England, Scotland and Wales will be taking to the road in new A3 and Q3 Audis after driving school franchise Bill Plant secured a £2m asset finance deal with Santander Corporate & Commercial to replace 150 cars in its fleet.

The Yorkshire-headquartered business started life in 1999 as a small sole trader driving school. When entrepreneur Bill Plant started hiring out his specially modified car to other instructors when he wasn’t using it, he quickly realised that this was a profitable business model. He reinvested the profits and bought a fleet of vehicles to hire out to other instructors and in 2002 he turned the business into a franchise. Bill Plant now operates around 700 driving school franchises across the North of England and urban areas of Scotland and Wales, creating employment for approximately 700 driving instructors and 22 support staff, including Bill’s sons Ashley and Jake. 

Bill Plant prides itself on providing the highest quality driving instruction, employing only fully qualified instructors, providing regular training and setting clear rules on the fees and standards franchisees must offer to students. To help maintain this quality, franchisees hire their car from Bill Plant and this is replaced with a new model each year. With the new finance Bill Plant has started a programme to refresh its fleet with brand new Audi A3 and Q3 cars.  The Audi A3 is What Car? magazine’s car of the year 2013.

Bill Plant, Owner and Founder of Bill Plant Ltd, said:  “We are delighted to have secured the finance to refresh the fleet. As one of only two major driving schools offering only fully qualified instructors, we are very focussed towards offering a top quality service and providing high-end, new cars with all the latest safety features is a very important part of that.”

Alastair Morris, Relationship Director for Santander Corporate & Commercial, said:  “We are thrilled to be supporting Bill Plant. It is an innovative business with a unique model and a strong focus on providing quality for students. We are looking forward to working with the business in the future and helping them achieve their ambition to become the largest driving school in the UK.”