Specialist automotive industry agency RTS’s head of learning Kathryn Searle has been promoted to the group’s board as director of learning and development.
Kathryn, pictured, joined Chippenham-based RTS four years ago. The group provides learning and development for customer-facing staff in the automotive industry and counts leading brands such as Mazda, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan among its clients. 
Kathryn began her career in the corporate world with British computer giant ICL, focussing on marketing communications and business intelligence. She worked in sales in Belgium before moving back to the UK to join the executive team, facilitating events and meetings for the company and its clients.
Through facilitating an event for accountants KPMG, Kathryn began looking at effective team working, alongside behaviour and experiential-based programmes. She developed this further when she moved to ICL’s training business, overseeing large IT programmes, such as the 2001 Census, which was the first to be automated.
The company trained 1,600 people for more than 30 different roles for the Census across a huge range, from warehousing to statistical analysis.”
In 2001 Kathryn joined a market research and training organisation, working in a number of roles including project manager, people development director and account director. She joined RTS as solutions manager with responsibility for design, delivery and quality.
She said: “I was delighted to be invited to join the RTS board. I’ve covered our operations director’s role when she’s been on maternity leave, so it was a natural progression.”
RTS managing director Malcolm Miller said: “Kathryn is a great asset to the board. As director of learning and development she will drive our learning and development capability, and work with our teams to strengthen programme development, design and delivery, demonstrating an excellent return on investment to our clients.”
RTS Group was founded in 1989 and has been providing learning and development services to the automotive industry for 25 years. It now has businesses across Europe, the Middle East, China and South Africa.
