Hi TurbulentMonkey, before I get accused of any bias I'll hold my hands up and say I am biased. My name is Paul and I have been flying with Leading Edge for about five years. I also work operations occasionally at the weekends.
Leading Edge has a fleet of Cessna 152 2 seat trainers (high wing) which they use for PPL training. They also operate a Piper Tomahawk 2 seat trainer (low wing) which may suit you better. But it's horses for courses as long as it flies then personally i'll fly it! At the larger end of the scale they also have a 4 seat PA28 Archer III for four seat hire. Either for post PPL hire or PPL training if you happen to be happier flying the bigger aircraft (obviously this is a more expensive way to do it). Finally for advanced training after the PPL we operate a one year old Super Decathlon aircraft. This is used for Aerobatics if anyone fancies it, also taildragger conversions and variable pitch propeller sign offs.
All our aircraft are leased from ACS aviation at Perth airport, the maintenance is also carried out there which effectively means that any technical issues can be resolved quickly or by a replacement aircraft of the same type.
Both Leading Edge and ACS are run by the same person, Allan Falconer. This works out well as having dealt with independent lease companies can be quite frustrating and certainly can have an impact on aircraft availability. Not an issue now.
Instructor wise, we have a very stable base of staff. There are 3 full time instructors and one semi-full time instructor who does all the aero/taildragger stuff. There are always at least two full time instructors during the week and a three or four at the weekend. They are all different characters of course but all easy going and very professional at what they do.
Ground exam-wise we have the facility to conduct these on site at fairly short notice.
For the flight exams we have access to a number of CAA approved examiners so even if you are looking to complete the course in a short space of time we will be able to sort out a test for you.
With regards to doing the course in such a short space of time this would be possible at Cumbernauld Airport, however you will have to put the work in. There will be days where the weather doesn't play ball so use these days well and get the head in the books and the exams out of the way. You will have to be at the airport almost full time. I know from our current excellent availability that we could start you immediately. We have one student who is doing just this flying a couple of times a day and he is (no pun) flying through the course.
A few nuggets of advice.
1) Whoever you fly with try to pay as you go. If you choose to pay up front beware, just search these forums for all the tales of woe from monies lost. If you pay up front you might save some cash but some places this is a contract that if you start and decide to change schools you will not get your money back! Flying off your credit will be the only way to get you monies worth.
2) Try and make sure you get one instructor and stick with them. This will make the whole process smoother and save you pennies in the end. But if you find your instructor doesn't suit your learning style then don't be afraid to ask for a change. Remember you are paying a lot of money to learn. The instructor will not (should not) take this as a personal affront. Sometimes teaching/learning styles just don't match.
3) If you are going on to do commercial training get your Class 1 medical out of the way at Gatwick first. No point spending a fortune if you're not fit to fly! This is just a worst case scenario, but a prudent move if you are looking to do this as a career.
4) Go and talk to both the schools. Meet the instructors meet the people involved.
Leading Edge is primarily a flight training organisation; however we are also a fairly social bunch. We have evening talks every winter from lots of different aviation people about lots of interesting topics. If you fancy it there is one next Tuesday by one of our members who is a BA long haul first officer about flying across the North Atlantic. This is as good a time as any to meet everyone I suppose. PM me for more info.
Sorry for the short novel but it's not easy to explain it all in a few sentences.
Good luck wherever you choose.
Paul.