Julian was brought up in a suburb of Reading in Berkshire and ever since when he was a young boy he would help his father service and repair the family cars, and so developed a fascination for vehicles and how they worked. At the age of 17 years he passed his driving test after only four driving lessons after which he bought his first car, a 1962 Morris Minor 1000 saloon.

Upon leaving school, Julian tried various forms of work but couldn't seem to settle at any of them until October 1975 when he joined the police service.

Due to his love of all things with internal combustion engines, in 1982 he joined the police Traffic Department, which involved attending advanced driver training courses. On every police driving course he attended he was top student in his group and even today holds one of the highest Home Office Police Class One driving marks awarded to anyone within his police force.

In the years that followed he went on to complete a LGV 1 police driving course and has qualified to advanced instructor level on 4x4 off-road vehicles. Further more he is the holder of a Police City & Guilds certificate for Motor Vehicle Examination and Automotive Technology, including advanced brakes technology, and became a Police Vehicle Examiner.

Julian has spent 20 years as a traffic patrol officer and over that period he developed a great deal of driving skill and experience. He has an in-depth knowledge and a deep understanding of motor vehicles of just about every kind and how they work. His love of vehicles and driving has never left him, which is why he greets his work within Ride Drive with such enthusiasm and energy. He is always willing to pass on tips and advice if only to make the roads a safer place for everyone to enjoy.

If he is asked what disappoints him the most about motoring it is the amount of wretched misery and carnage that takes place on the roads caused by irresponsible drivers. “We never stop learning,” he says, “and those that think they know all there is to know clearly don’t, otherwise they wouldn't say that. Experience is something that we should feed from every day, analyse and draw from it further knowledge and skill. Always remember that it is far better to arrive 5 minutes late in this world than many years too early in the next.”

Julian gladly retired from the police service in October 2005, having completed 30-years service, and is now heavily committed to the development of Ride Drive limited as a company, to take it forward to being a market leader.