Feature
ust remember this: in this country, they drive on the wrong side of the road.” Wag your finger and bellow that in your best cockney accent, and you will join the 56-year-old legion of Charlie Croker impressionists. Like almost all of Michael Caine’s lines from 1969’s ‘The Italian Job’, that one was written to be daft and infinitely quotable, but it could just as well be an opener for a UK driver familiarisation course.
Self-preservation society “J
GB plc’s skills shortages have sent employers shopping for talent overseas, boosting the need for UK driver familiarisation courses. Jack Carfrae reports.
“It's not so much to pass or fail them ... although we have had instances where we have had to refuse people the right to drive because of the standards.”
Designed for companies parachuting in employees from overseas, they take the form of short, instructor-led training sessions to acclimatise drivers to the idiosyncrasies of the UK road network. Beyond driving on the left, training providers have told us that road signs (mainly the sheer amount of them), roundabouts, speed limits, smart motorways and traffic levels are among the more common particularities to bamboozle those new to British highways.
The courses are also increasingly popular. Red Driver Training’s head of marketing, Colin Paterson, tells Business Car the firm has experienced “a sort of doubling of UK familiarisation courses… very crudely, between 2024 and 2025”. He credits a portion to winning new business – particularly with pharmaceutical companies, said to be one of
28 | May/June 2025 |
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the main markets for the courses – but believes it is part of wider trend.
“We’re sensing that people are being encouraged to the UK within companies to take up specialist positions that they can’t fill [with UK employees], and that’s when they need to get them through the courses.” The uptick is not limited to white-collar workers. We are used to reporting on the UK’s vehicle technician shortage, and the Institute of the Motor Industry believes the UK is looking at a shortfall of 3,000 technicians qualified to work on EVs by 2031, rising to 16,000 by 2035, but this industry is far from alone. In May, we counted
12 headline categories with the word ‘engineer’ in the job title – not including IT roles – on the government’s list of occupations eligible for a skilled worker visa, and many companies, from dealer groups to construction firms, are shopping abroad for technical talent.
Altrad is a prime example. It works on major infrastructure projects, such as petrochemical plants and power stations, including the Hinkley Point C and Sizewell B nuclear sites, and recruits from countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and the Philippines.
“We put all our overseas drivers on a one-day driver training course,” says head of fleet Matt Hammond, also a board director at the Association of Fleet Professionals. “That involves a bit of a chat in the morning, then the instructor will take them out for three or four hours in the afternoon… it’s not so much to pass or fail them, more to bring them up to standard, although we have had instances where we have had to refuse people the right to drive because of the standards. We’ve probably been doing that now for about 12 months.”
Standards can vary wildly by country and developed nations tend to have the most stringent driving licence requirements. That is not to say new hires from, for example, the EU or the US
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