TALKING BUSINESS
DEVELOPING THE FUTURE OF TRAINING
A training company that has built its success on helping firms to get the best out of their people over more than two decades has exciting plans to share its good fortune with the community. Directors of The Development Company, ADRIAN GREEN and KAY BUCKBY, explain what is next in store for them.
Within minutes of meeting Adrian Green and Kay Buckby you understand what drives them to keep The Development Company at the cutting edge of its industry. The pair, who are both qualified trainers, facilitators and
coaches, are passionate about learning and development, and they will tell you proudly that what inspires them is helping the people they work with to be the very best that they can be. Their commitment to that ethos inspired them to recognise in
the very early days of the internet that it would open up new ways for them to communicate directly to their clients. It has motivated them to add qualifications in grief
counselling and psychology to their wealth of coaching and training expertise and to travel to conferences around the world to access the latest information. Together they have helped to train more than 34,000 people
and they have clients and partners across the UK and in a variety of overseas countries, including Australia, America and Canada. The Development Company, based in Earls Barton, also has
the honour of being ITOL’s (Institute of Training and Occupational Learning) sole delivery centre in the UK and offers ITOL coaching and training qualifications. Adrian started The Development Company in 1994 after
previously working his way from IT trainer to Training Manager within Barclays Bank. His many achievements include writing two books for trainers. He is an external researcher for Loughborough University and a Fellow of ITOL, the Institute for professional Learning and Development specialists. Kay joined the Earls Barton-based company in October 1995
and brought with her a wide range of experience from sectors, including sales, HR and accounting. Adrian said: “I went freelance and started the company in
1994. Kay joined me in 1995 and she hit the ground running. "She has made a huge impact on our firm. During her time
with the company she studied part-time at the University of Northampton for a Psychology degree and the learning she gained from that alone has proved invaluable as we use it in our training delivery all the time. “Her training style is learner centred and she is one of the
most skilled facilitators I have ever worked with.” Kay celebrated her 21st anniversary with The Development
Company in October 2016. Some of her key achievements include designing the
forerunner of the CIPD Certificate in Recruitment and Selection, she is a Visionary for the Trainers Network Northamptonshire and she found she has a talent for script writing modern drama- based training films. Kay said: “I have always been involved in learning and
training because I want people to achieve their true potential in life. What makes us special is that we will visit companies and find out where they are and where they want to be and tailor their training accordingly.
26 inbusiness FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017
Keeping a finger on the pulse (L-R): directors Kay Buckby and Adrian Green and Louise Plant, elearning author
“I’m delighted that we can accredit most courses that we
deliver because I think employers benefit when their people pass or fail, rather than receive an attendance certificate.” Kay is also passionate about the strategic side of their business.
She said: “Working on our strategy is a key strength of mine. I enjoy envisioning the future. I remember in the early days of the internet people were debating the true impact to a small business, I could see it was a great way for us to reach out directly to our clients. “Things are so exciting now. I love social media and the
implications of this in learning and development. It’s a way of enabling real time learning, and collaborative learning. I’ve just returned from America where I attended a conference about technology in learning. It is essential to help us remain at the cutting edge of what we do. In the future I would like to study for a PhD.” Both Adrian, and Louise Plant, an elearning author who
started as an apprentice in the company in 2011, also attended an ATD (Association for Talent Development) conference in America in January on elearning and the use of technology in learning (ATD TK). Adrian said: “It was invaluable to benchmark our elearning
against others.” One of the last big developments for the company came in
around 2010 when Kay recognised there was a shift in the training environment. She recognised early on that the business
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