South Bedfordshire

Overview

Garry spent thirty years with Bedfordshire Police, thirteen of them on the Police Driver Training unit teaching officers to drive everything from standard patrol response to full pursuit. He held Class 1, the top police driving grade, on both cars and motorcycles, and qualified as a Police Advanced driving instructor and examiner.

These days he coaches at the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone and trains response drivers at a high-security hospital. He also assesses owners of high-performance cars on behalf of their insurers, so he knows exactly what separates a driver who can handle a quick car from one who only thinks they can.

Core Expertise

• Performance car coaching. Trains at the Porsche Experience Centre and assesses high-performance car owners for insurers. He understands car dynamics from the driving seat and the workshop, having built and restored classic and hand-built cars himself.
• Emergency and pursuit driving. Thirteen years training police officers to response and pursuit standard, including responsibility for force pursuit policy. Very little on a public road will surprise him.
• New and developing drivers. Coaches new drivers and candidates working towards RoSPA qualifications in his own time, with a genuine personal commitment to road safety.
• Risk assessment. Conducts corporate driving assessments for large companies and insurer risk assessments for individual drivers. He can read a driver quickly and tell you honestly where the gaps are.
• The mechanical picture. A time-served toolmaker and former design engineer, Garry explains what the car is doing underneath you, not just what to do with your hands and feet.

Professional Background

• Porsche GB Driving Consultant (Silver grade), 2017 to present
• Bedfordshire Police, 1987 to 2017, 30 years served
• 13 years on the Police Driver Training unit, advanced instructor and examiner
• Pursuit Management Tactics instructor and force lead for pursuit training and policy
• Member of the VIP driving team for Royal Family and Government Minister visits to Bedfordshire
• Current response driver trainer at a high-security hospital, and corporate driving assessor

Qualifications

• Police Class 1 advanced car and motorcycle driver, October 1992
• Police Advanced Driving Instructor (six-week course), March 2003
• RoSPA car and motorcycle examiner
• IAM member (Institute of Advanced Motorists), 1982
• DVSA Approved Driving Instructor (ADI)
• Porsche GB Driving Consultant, Silver grade
• City & Guilds Level 3 A1 Assessor
• Police accident investigation, advanced level, City & Guilds certified
• Police VIP Drivers course and heavyweight advanced motorcycle qualifications

Coaching Philosophy

Garry has spent a career being measured against an unforgiving standard and then holding others to it as an examiner.

He brings the same fairness to a coaching day. He will tell you honestly where you are, show you why the car responds the way it does, and build from there without drama.

A keen sim racer and lifelong restorer of classic cars, he treats driving as a craft worth practising properly, and he wants you to leave understanding the machine, not just operating it.