westbrooke and trimountain support RED driver training in second joint UK transaction

Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management and Trimountain Partners have completed their second joint UK investment, backing the management buyout of RED Driver Training, the UK’s leading tech-enabled driver education platform.

Founded in 1992, RED operates a nationwide network of over 1,700 franchised instructors and a proprietary digital platform serving both consumer and corporate clients. The consortium was attracted to RED’s market-leading position, capital-light and highly cash-generative business model, and the significant growth opportunity in a fragmented £2bn UK driver training market.

Seb Goldin, CEO of RED Driver Training, said: “RED has experienced significant growth in the past 12 months across both consumer and business markets. We are excited to partner with Westbrooke and Trimountain to build on our success and innovate further in both digital and practical driver education. The team at RED across the Billingham and Donnington locations, together with the national network of instructors, have bold plans combined with the right skills to build on RED’s legacy, and take the business forward to its next stage of growth.”

Rob Grieve, Head of Westbrooke UK Private Equity, commented: “We are pleased to support the management buyout of RED alongside Trimountain. This investment aligns with our strategy of backing high-quality, growth-oriented businesses alongside experienced partners and ambitious management teams. RED has built a market-leading platform with a strong brand and a highly capable leadership team. We look forward to collaborating with the management team and Trimountain in this next chapter of growth, and we believe that the alignment of vision, values, and ambition will make for a highly successful partnership.”

Ali Khanbhai, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Trimountain Partners added: “Having successfully backed the business and management since spearheading the prior buyout in 2019, Trimountain is delighted to be reinvesting again in RED by partnering with Westbrooke and the Senior Management Team to support this new management buyout and the Company’s next phase of growth. As the leading tech-enabled B2C and B2B driver training business in the UK, RED has gone from strength-to-strength under the steadfast leadership of CEO Seb Goldin and the highly experienced management team as the company continues to capitalise on its dominant market position and the tremendous growth opportunities which lie ahead. All of Trimountain’s former investor partners in RED have exited as part of this new transaction and we are thrilled to have delivered a terrific outcome for them and all shareholders. This marks our second investment in partnership with Westbrooke, and we very much look forward to continuing to build on our strong relationship with them and the RED management team.”