Ruth Heaton is the Talent Development Director at Gateley Plc, where she leads the company’s talent development strategy across leadership development, management capability, succession planning, performance management, early careers and AI capability building. She is passionate about maximising people potential and ensuring organisations have the skills, behaviours and talent pipelines needed to support long-term business success. 

Alongside her day-to-day role at Gateley, Ruth is a member of the Strategic Board of the Greater Birmingham Professional Services Academy, helping to strengthen collaboration between employers, local education providers and industry partners to increase access to professional services and equip students with future ready skills for the professional services sector. She has also played a key role in establishing Gateley as a T Level industry placement provider, creating opportunities for young people to gain meaningful workplace experience and supporting the development of future skills pipelines. Ruth is committed to improving social mobility, widening access to careers and ensuring education and skills provision remains closely aligned to employer needs.

This combination of strategic talent, workforce development and employer engagement experience provides Ruth with practical insight into the skills challenges and opportunities facing employers across the region.