Nick Houlden
Nick was destined to have a career in driving. His Dad was a coach driver and Nick was usually in the coach office or on the road with his dad from a very young age!
His driving career started in earnest though, when he was 17, passing his car test as soon as he could.
Around the same time, he became a member of the Royal Logistic Corps Territorial Army unit.
At 18 the army sent him away to deepest West Yorkshire! After an intensive course he came away with his licence to drive lorries - he certainly had the driving bug by this stage!
Away from his army work, Nick was working at the Kingstonian Coach office (dad!) and realised his destiny was with driving the big stuff.
He went for his PCV (passenger carrying vehicle) again passing first time.
After a 'gap year' from driving qualifications, he took his IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) Advanced PCV test qualifying as the youngest Advanced Coach Driver on their books, although maybe a little older than this early picture!
Nick was lucky to drive numerous vehicles during his time with the army, from mini buses, through to all manner of trucks, but his favourite was the Leyland DAF drops truck.
It wasn't all driving though, as Nick had several roles within the unit, not only as a specialist driver, but also two I C in the Corps of Drums!
His commercial driving followed the coach and bus path, rather than the lorries, and he went to work for EYMS (East Yorkshire Motor Services) for several years.
This work gave him the opportunity to travel throughout both the UK and Europe as a tour driver, honing skills in both driving and customer service.
After over twenty years, Nick wanted another challenge, and left his employer to join Acklams Coaches of Beverley that offered a different variety of work.
This included driving tour buses for the likes of Will Young, being one of the infamous Boris Bus, drivers during the Brexit campaign as well as regular Portugese trips in the sun and other holidays, some of which required snow chains to be fitted!
With a young family, the European trips were less attractive, and more local based driving was far more attractive!
With his experience and knowledge he quickly was promoted to the role of Instructor within the firm and has got many drivers started on their careers, for not only Acklams, but other local companies and private individuals who recognise his skills.
Nick has continued pursuing his love of driving with a couple of rally driving courses in his free time
Still hungry to progress, Nick sought to re-visit the advanced side of driving and joined RoSPA Advanced Drivers & Riders East Yorkshire (E-YARD) in 2017 taking his test and becoming a full member of RoADAR as a result.
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Nick continues to be an active member of the group, enjoying his Seat Cupra!
