By Barbara Walshe

When Wealth Management, the international private banking arm of the RBS group, emerged as one of the fastest growing areas within RBS in 2006, people sat up and took notice.

At the helm of this development is Kathryn Winup, appointed last year as finance director for Wealth Management, of which Coutts & Co's UK and international businesses make up a large part. "It is a very, very fast paced environment here," says Kathryn. "We've been going great guns, even surpassing our corporate market colleagues, making it clear that size isn't always what's important in business."

That Kathryn has ended up in this position is as much a surprise to her as anyone. If you asked her what she wanted to be at 19, 'an accountant' would not have been her answer. Back then she was getting ready to travel the world - scuba diving and horse riding her way across it - and university, careers and 9-to-5 jobs seemed a life time away.

Her first step on the career ladder began at 21. Returning from the UK after 15 glorious months of travel, she needed a job. And when one came up at Deutsche bank, she took it. "I can't imagine my aspiration at 19 was to end up an accountant," Kathryn laughs, "but it was the route I took."

For three years, she worked at Deutsche Bank by day and 'slogged it out' at night school, gaining her accountancy qualifications. At 27, she moved to Jersey following her husband who was given a secondment. And it was there that she was approached by RBS and accepted a job in their finance team. "RBS had a more youthful feel," she admits. "And when the merger with NatWest happened in 1998, there were lots of changes, a lot of excitement and different things to learn."

This eagerness to experience and learn continued to spur Kathryn on. In career terms, it led to her returning to the UK to take up the role of finance director for Coutts & Co at the age of 35 when she could have settled nicely into her new role as 'mum' in Jersey.

"When everyone found out I was coming back, they asked how on earth I was going to do the London commute!" she laughs. For the first three months, she worked three days in London and two in Jersey until she, her husband and Sophie, her one-year-old daughter, transferred off the island completely.

Looking back now, she remembers: "I think you do what is required of you at the time. I just had to balance it with my husband and Sophie for those three months. If I had to do it for a year, it never would have happened."

Maintaining a balance between work and home is a continuous goal she strives for, but became even more important when, after eight months at Coutts, she was approached for the finance director role in Wealth Management.

"You need to have a good sense of humour in this job because there's nothing like finances to get people riled up. You've got to push and try and negotiate around things. It can be really emotive to people."

"Organisation is just so key, that's how my husband and I manage it," she confirms. "I've also found you just have to work differently, like leaving on time. Sometimes that means running out of the office with my mobile phone and BlackBerry and continuing working on my train journey. But I feel, therefore, that I'm doing the right thing by my daughter, me and my job."

And Kathryn loves her job, which she says is anything but the 'boring' stigma normally attached to finance and accounting. "Anyone can add up," she insists. "It's all the other bits that go around the edges that make it interesting."

Her current responsibilities include working closely with her five different finance teams spread internationally, and supporting and challenging the business on growth aspirations. But it's her view of the role of finance within business that keeps her continually challenged. "Finance has to be prepared to move forward with businesses, to challenge and help businesses, to be a real partner to them," she insists.

Within this, she particularly enjoys the interaction with people. "You need to be able to develop good relationships with people because finance is a key part of the business, in terms of getting the investment.

"You also need to have a good sense of humour because there's nothing like finances to get people riled up. At times, you've to push a little bit and try and negotiate around things. It can be emotive to people."

The other side of Kathryn's job is that she gets to feed her hunger for travel, visiting her teams in Asia, Europe and Offshore, and more locations such as the Middle East for various business opportunities. To do this, however, support from her parents is key in looking after the now three-year-old Sophie, especially if her husband is also away travelling. Though Sophie, it seems, has developed her own coping mechanism.

Recalling one incident recently, Kathryn laughs: "I got back at 6am from my last trip to Asia and was ringing the doorbell and phone of my house but my mother, who was looking after Sophie, wasn't waking up. Suddenly I heard these little footsteps coming down the stairs. And we were speaking through the letterbox, I told her 'Go and wake up nanny to let me in!' She went all the way to the stairs, then looked round and came all the way back. 'Have you got me a present?' And I'm stood there outside the door! It was funny. But I'm very fortunate. She's a very happy girl."

Unsurprisingly, Sophie is starting to catch her mother's travel bug, and is very excited about their three-week family holiday coming up shortly. Kathryn wouldn't have it any other way. "I'm always amazed at people who leave school and go into university, and know what subjects they want to do. I'd definitely recommend Sophie to travel before taking on the responsibilities of a mortgage and full time work," she insists. And if it means she turns out anything like her mother, that's not bad advice.