The winter of 1999 was dark, and for the hundred or more instructors who worked at the many CSM Rider Training sites it was about to get darker still. On Christmas Eve 1999 CSM Rider Training, the largest motorcycle training school in the UK, folded and made all its staff unemployed.
For many this was not entirely unexpected as the writing had been on the wall for some time. Indeed for Kelly Lansdown, Andy Bell, and William Rodwell plans were already afoot to go it alone. They had made some important decisions – such as what to call the training school! It was named after a BSA A65 Lightning – that looks like a motorcycle a child would draw, and thus all things to all comers, something we still hold dear today.
Despite the plans the collapse of CSM was very depressing. However, there was a small window of opportunity – CSM decided to sell its centres piecemeal. Between the three of them they raised £15,000 and bought CSM’s Oxford branch at the Oxford Stadium. It came with some pretty battered bikes, but the landlord was agreeable and the DSA very helpful, and so it was that in just over a month Lightning Motorcycle Training was a reality and up & running.
Building a business is not easy, particularly a motorcycle training school, and the learning curve was steep. Nevertheless the dedication of many instructors and the goodwill of thousands of students has seen it slowly expand over the past 25 years to the point where we have 6 centres and plans for more.
We have learnt a lot along the way. We have employed some truly talented instructors over the years. We have met thousands of amazing people (nearly 70,000 to date). We’ve trained celebrities and we have trained teenagers for whom getting on a motorcycle is just everything. We have had a lot of laughs, and we have shed real tears. But overall it has been simply amazing. None of it would be possible without the hard work of our staff and the trust & support of our customers – so thank you all very, very much. We are truly humbled.
And thank you Kelly & Andy for helping to get it off the ground – much love.