Trainee Update from Instructor Support – 8th May

Firstly, I hope that you, your family and your loved ones are in good health.

I am providing this update to you in detail all the actions Bill Plant Driving School has undertaken, since the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are proud to be National Driving School of the Year and at a time like this, we believe we are required to act accordingly; for the benefit of our Pupils, Trainees, Trainees, Instructors, Staff, and the wider industry. 

Support for our Instructors
We closely followed the early warnings of the virus and set up a dedicated Instructor Support Online portal to provide weekly updates and quickly reach all our Instructors. 

We were the first nationwide Driving School to postpone all driving lessons and in-car training on the 23rd March, with the exception for key workers. 

One day later, we released our Franchise Fee Assistance for all our Instructors which has been in place throughout March, April and now May. 

Support has not just been financial, we’ve seen an increase in average call time lengths within our Instructor Support Team, as our Relationship Managers continue to provide a highly personable service and be there for our Instructors. Treating our Instructors as individuals is at the heart of our customer-focused business and this has been truly demonstrated in these unprecedented times. 

A further example of our Support has been providing a bit of light relief and fun with our Online Quiz. We partnered with a comedy club to run a Bill Plant Driving School Online Quiz for all our Instructors and Head Office staff. As we have missed hosting our Regional Instructor Networking Events, social events such as this are key for all the Bill Plant Driving School family. 

Innovating our Product Offering – Online Theory
On 9th April, we launched our Online Driving Theory Lessons product to the market. We created an introduction to Driving Theory Presentation to allow our Instructors to offer an initial hour’s lesson alongside a 4-month subscription to a co-branded DVSA-approved Online Theory Test Platform, due to our partnership with DTS Anytime. 

Alongside the initial one-hour Introductory lesson, we have had sales of the additional 5 and 10-hour lesson plans created providing much-needed new income to our franchisees. 

Volunteering Efforts
We continue to be extremely proud of the volunteering efforts our Driving Instructors are undertaking right now in the fight against Coronavirus.

Whether it be community acts or supplying medical equipment and treatment. It is fantastic to see our Instructors receive press mentions for giving up their time. Please see a few examples below

Continued Marketing Activity
Bill Plant Driving School has received high press coverage across the likes of The Sunday Times, i News, The Express, The Scotsman and MSN. Our Instructors have been championing the brand and the voice for Driving Instructors nationwide with TV appearances on Sky News and ITV News.

We created a Colour our Car Competition in late March to engage the whole family during lockdown and provide a bit little rest bite for parents who are now home schooling their children. In partnership with our car signage company, Fastsigns Manchester, we will create the winning design and drive the chosen winner around their local area, for yet more marketing exposure. 

Entries for the competition close on Monday 11th May, so feel free to share the link via billplant.co.uk/cardesign

Alongside this we have been creating fun branded content on our social media platforms, our “missing the F1 ” pit stop video is close to hitting 500,000 views across our Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok accounts. 

We continue to receive a steady number of new pupil enquiries for lessons to be scheduled after lockdown ends and the above Marketing Activity will ensure that our Instructors will be busier than ever.

A bright future
Whilst we share your frustration with being unable to complete your training at the moment but we are confident of what the future holds and look forward to welcoming you back soon to finish your training and successfully become a Driving Instructor with Bill Plant Driving School. 

We continue to do all we can to support our Instructors, Trainers, Trainees, Staff and Pupils.

Kind regards

Tom Hixon
Head of Instructor Support