· Two brothers from Maidstone shaking up the driving instructor industry in Kent
· Over 100 Kent driving instructors registered
· Backed by London based tech-venture studio
After passing the necessary tests to become a driving instructor, 29 year old co-founder from Maidstone, Kevin Tuffney, struggled to find work in the referral based industry. Here he had the idea to create www.RatedDrivingInstructors.com, the AirBnB of the driving instructor world. A website where learners can search, compare and book reviewed driving instructors by typing in their postcode. “We wanted to create a business where we could empower learners to easily find the best driving instructor for the best price.” says Kevin.
Since launching the site in Kent with his brother, Oliver (27 years old) the site has gone on to quickly attract over 100 of Kent’s driving instructors who are now actively using the site and receiving regular business. As is often the case with marketplace businesses such as AirBnB, Uber or Compare the Market, the biggest challenge is getting the first instructors on to the website ‘no-one wants to be the first to a party so we had to work really hard on our marketing in the early days’ explains Oliver.
For the first year, Rated Driving Instructors was a free service while the brothers were testing to see what worked and what. The brothers plan to start charging the driving instructors for the learner leads they receive through the site. “We will only charge instructors a fee when they receive business” says Kevin.
The two brothers, who grew up in Kent have big plans for the website, “now Kent has proven there is a demand for the service, our mission is to help connect learners and instructors across the UK and beyond” says Oliver.
The comparison website has recently received backing from the London based technology start-up studio Siya Tech Ventures who are collaborating with the brothers to realise their ambition of shaking up the long-unchanged, learner-driver industry.
Hatim Siyawala, Managing Director of Siya Tech Ventures says “with the traction www.RatedDrivingInstructors.com is building and the passion of Kevin and Oliver, we are very excited to be on board with this business.”
It’s a long road and exciting road ahead for the young tech company.