About the UDrive Owner

About Glyn Morgan, owner of UDrive 

I’ve been a driving instructor for 17 years and I can honestly say there isn’t a job I would enjoy more. When I left university after gaining a degree in Criminology I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied in a role that required me to sit in an office all day, and as my former dream of becoming a police officer didn’t appeal to me anymore, I started to explore what other options were out there. I’d previously done some teaching in kids’ summer schools, which I’d loved and found I had a flair for, so I wanted to find a job that incorporated some sort of teaching. I’m not particularly a huge car fanatic but have always enjoyed driving and the freedom it gives, so a job helping others gain that freedom seemed perfect for me. 

I couldn’t be more suited to the career; as a child, I was always dreaming up new money-making schemes, and used to get a real buzz from following them through. There was something really special about knowing I’d made money off my own back, so now, as an adult, the fact I am my own boss as a driving instructor holds huge appeal. 

In the early days I appreciated the flexibility that being a driving instructor gave, but it has become an even more important factor as I’ve grown my family. I have three wonderful children and my partner has four, so there are always school events to attend and evening activities to ferry them to. I am so grateful to be in a career which means I don’t ever need to miss important events, and can spend plenty of time with my family as well as helping to provide for them.

Training to become a driving instructor was an exciting new challenge, but I wouldn’t say it was difficult, because I was interested in the subject. I enjoyed expanding my knowledge on driving and road rules, and my studying was rewarded with 100% in the theory questions. I had no trouble with the advanced driving test either. 

However, I was very almost turned off from it all as a result of my instructor training. The school I trained under did not seem to care about the quality of instructors they were churning out. There was no consistency with who was training me, their efforts were lacklustre, and the whole thing felt very rushed. I passed first time but felt I had been given very little real life knowledge. Once I started instructing I realised the training had been entirely focussed on me passing the test, but had left me in a poor position to be a good driving instructor. It was a very steep learning curve and it took a while before I could be truly proud of the standard of teaching I was providing my pupils.

This bad experience is probably what fuelled me to eventually set up my driving school as I was so saddened by how many poor driving instructors there must be out there, due to inadequate training. It is so important to me that our pupils receive the best possible experience in their driving lessons, and this can only occur if we have top quality instructors. It feels great knowing that the instructors we train all start their careers in a much better position than I did; our training is extremely thorough, so when they pass the instructor training they have the confidence to deal with every possible scenario that will come up in their lessons.

I am extremely proud of both the service we give our pupils, and the support we provide our UDrive instructors. I look back on how difficult I found it as an independent ADI on my own, and feel glad that I can spare others the tumult of scrounging around for pupils and proceeding with no help or guidance. It has been a tough road to get here, but it is a dream come true to be able to offer our franchisees such a fantastic package with the backing of a gold standard reputation. I look forward to growing the UDrive family and will always be looking for new ways to improve and adjust to any changes in the industry.