Independent Driving

What Independent Driving does

Independent Driving, trading as Art of Driving, is a sole-proprietor driving school operating in Ballyclare, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The business is run by Artie Campbell, a single Approved Driving Instructor (A.D.I.) registered with the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), the statutory regulator for driving instructors in Northern Ireland. The school delivers one-on-one manual driving lessons to learner drivers using a dual-controlled Vauxhall Corsa, with student pickup offered at home, school, college, or workplace across eight towns and villages in County Antrim including Ballyclare, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Greenisland, Whitehead, Doagh, Ballynure, and Straid.

The revenue model is built on per-hour lesson billing with tiered block-booking discounts: £45 per single hour, £220 for a 5-lesson block (equivalent to £44/hr), and £430 for a 10-lesson block (equivalent to £43/hr). Ancillary revenue is generated through a £150 Test Day Package that combines a pre-test warm-up lesson with vehicle use on the practical test, plus gift vouchers that allow third parties to prepay lessons. There is no proprietary technology, no mobile app, no online booking system, and no learner management platform; the only digital surface is a Facebook page used for marketing, with the remainder of customer acquisition driven by word-of-mouth referrals.

The business is a single-person service operation with no employees beyond the owner-instructor. There are no funding events, no external investors, no partnerships, no fleet training or B2B contracts, and no documented geographic expansion beyond the established County Antrim catchment. The combination of a sole proprietor, transactional per-lesson pricing, and a single testimonial from a named learner (Adam Longwell) is consistent with a micro-scale, owner-operated local service rather than a scalable enterprise.

Name

Independent Driving

Legal name

Art of Driving

Website

https://art-of-driving.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Art of Driving is a sole-proprietor driving school in Ballyclare, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, run by Approved Driving Instructor Artie Campbell. It delivers one-on-one manual driving lessons, test-day packages, and gift vouchers to learner drivers across eight County Antrim towns.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ballyclare

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Driving Lessons: Provides driving lessons to pupils of all ages and experience levels. Pricing offered at hourly rate with discounts for block bookings. Revenue generated through per-lesson fees and test day package fees.
2. Test Day Package: Includes pre-test lesson and use of the instructor's car for the practical driving test
3. Gift Vouchers: Gift vouchers available for driving lessons as an additional revenue stream

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Independent Driving is a sole-proprietor driving school run by an Approved Driving Instructor (A.D.I.) that delivers one-on-one in-car driving lessons to learner drivers and qualified drivers seeking refresher training in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Services are sold as single hourly lessons, discounted block bookings of five or ten lessons, and a "Test Day Package" that combines a pre-test lesson with use of the instructor's car for the practical driving test. Gift vouchers are also sold for friends and family to gift lessons.

Product overview

Independent Driving (Art of Driving) offers a single-service driving instruction model centered on driving lessons with optional add-ons. The core offering is one-on-one driving lessons covering all aspects needed to pass the practical driving test, including the 4 manoeuvres, emergency stop, and Independent Driving sections. Additional services include a test day package (pre-test lesson plus use of car for the test at £150) and gift vouchers. The training car is a leased vehicle new to 3 years old with dual controls for safety. Pricing is available as single lessons (£45/hour), blocks of 5 (£44/hour), or blocks of 10 (£43/hour).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Driving Lessons One-on-one in-car driving lessons delivered by an Approved Driving Instructor (A.D.I.) using a dual-control training vehicle, available as single hours, blocks of five, or blocks of ten, covering core manual driving skills for learner drivers in County Antrim.
• Test Day Package A bundled package of a pre-test lesson plus use of the instructor's dual-control car for the candidate's practical driving test, sold at a flat £150 fee for learner drivers in County Antrim.
• Gift Vouchers DRIVING LESSON GIFT VOUCHERS available for purchase so that friends and family can gift driving lessons to a learner driver.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• RED Driving School: One of the UK's largest national driving schools with hundreds of instructors, online booking, and standardized curriculum. Directly comparable as a UK driving instruction provider, but operates at vastly larger scale than this single-instructor operator.
• AA Driving School: National UK driving school affiliated with the AA brand, offering lessons and Pass Plus courses. Comparable driving tuition offering with strong brand and booking platform that this operator lacks.
• BSM (British School of Motoring): Long-established UK driving school offering lessons, intensive courses, and theory test support nationally. Comparable core service (driving instruction) but with significantly broader reach, brand recognition, and digital infrastructure.
• RAC Driving School: UK driving school affiliated with the RAC motoring brand offering lessons nationwide. Comparable service offering with strong brand backing and broader geographic coverage.

Emerging players

• PassMeFast: UK-based intensive driving course provider focused on fast-track test preparation. Comparable product overlap (lessons + test day use of instructor car) but differentiates through intensive course structure and online booking.
• Driving Instructor Trainer (DIT) / Bill Plant franchise instructors: Independent ADI franchisees and small local driving schools across the UK using similar sole-trader or micro-business models. Most structurally comparable peers to this operator's size and operating model.

Direct peers

• Bill Plant Driving School: UK national driving school with hundreds of local instructors, providing one-on-one lessons in similar geographic clusters. Most directly comparable peer given the per-instructor local-area delivery model.
• smartlearner driving school: UK driving school with local independent instructor franchise model covering multiple regions. Closely comparable in structure—independent instructors operating under a national booking/brand framework.
• LDC Driving School (Learner Driving Centre): UK driving school franchise network where independent instructors operate under the LDC brand. Comparable as a solo-operator model with shared brand and booking infrastructure.
• Drive Johnson’s: Mid-sized UK driving school operating multiple local instructors across regions. Comparable local-area instructor model with similar pricing and one-on-one lesson structure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/193283637399606
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/independent-driving

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Independent Driving