SIXTY-FOUR North-East office jobs have been saved after a deal was struck to save a driving group placed into administration.

Red Driving School and Red Instructor Training has been bought by private equity firm Kelso Place, which has previously backed the Smythson luxury stationery brand.

Red’s owner LVG was placed into administration last week after it encountered difficulties with funding, although administrator MCR said that its accounts suggested the driving school group was quite healthy and profitable.

The deal will save about 400 jobs across the UK, including 64 at a contact centre in Billingham, near Stockton.

A spokesman for the administrators said: “It is a good outcome. People won’t lose their jobs and the business won’t be interrupted.”

Kelso, which is thought to have invested several million pounds, said it had no plans for redundancies, with partner Philip Weston saying it planned to expand the business.

Red Driving School is the third largest in the UK, while the group’s instructor training division is the biggest in Europe, with a network of 22 colleges.

Its owner LVG, which also has offices in Brighton and Liverpool, has annual revenues of about £40m.

But the firm was forced into administration due to a funding shortfall which arose from a change in its banking arrangements.

David Downing, chief executive of the Red business, said: ‘‘Throughout this short period of administration, the company has continued to trade as normal.

‘‘As a result of Kelso Place’s investment, Red is now in a very strong financial position.’’ Kelso is known for investments in firms such as Smythson and Anya Hindmarch’s designer handbag business.

It has previously bought a number of businesses out of insolvency to get them back on track and sell on, such as financial recruitment firm Nigel Lynn Associates and Sepura, which makes radios for the police.

About 10,000 trainee driving instructors have qualified under the Red brand in the past five years, paying about £3,000 for courses.

However, there is concern that there are now too many driving instructors flooding the market at a time when the recession has hit demand for driving lessons.