Let's Get Down to Business: Adam Toop, Code Technology

ADAM TOOP, 56, is chief executive of Code Technology and was previously chairman of Adam Phones. He is also a vintage boat enthusiast, co-chair of the Thames Traditional Boat Rally and owner of the Hobbs Boatyard in Wargrave Road, Henley. He is married to Bethan and they have eight-year-old twin daughters and a Rhodesian ridgeback called Tilly. In 2018 the family bought a riverside home in Henley.

Describe your business

Code Technology is a new entrant in the telecommunications industry, established to meet the demands of the alternative investment sector, governments and family offices.

How many people does it employ?

Five people who are also shareholders.

What did you do before you started this business?

When I failed my interview for Cambridge my father cut me off financially so, at the age of 21, I started a car phone company in my bedroom. Over the next 32 years the business grew from initially installing the first analogue car telephones to delivering high speed data networks spanning the globe. I sold the business in 2019.

When did you start your current business?

In January.

Why did you start again?

After two years of retirement, much of it locked down in a house with marauding twins and a rampaging puppy, I decided it wasn’t for me. I was approached with various business opportunities but it is communications and technology that continue to inspire me. Technology continues to evolve exponentially. While some people find that pace of change to be uncomfortably demanding, I think it is exciting, both as a challenge and the benefits it can bring. Code was founded to bring together some of the most special people that I have worked with over the past three decades, a proven team that share common values and understand that technology is only as good as the skills used to select, deploy and support it.

Who or what influenced you?

My first business was set up out of necessity. I was penniless, apart from a £3,000 business development loan provided by NatWest and kindly underwritten by the government.

Do you have a mentor or role model?

I have always carefully observed and learned from the habits and approaches of people that have most impressed me. I were to name a single person, it would be my father. After his own failed retirement, I gave him a job and that lasted more than eight years. We learned so much from him.

What would you do differently if you could again?

Starting a business with just £3,000 is a bad idea and I made myself ill with cashflow concerns for years.

Do you have a business plan?

A considered business plan is the foundation of a sound company that will naturally facilitate funding. Even in the current climate there are substantial sums of money seeking good investments.

How do you market your business?

As Code addresses specialists markets, we carefully curate and share relevant content that demonstrates thought leadership, trust and reliability.

What’s the best thing about running your own business?

It is a pleasure to work with inspiring people, be they colleagues, suppliers or customers, with the boundaries between them being as insignificant as possible thanks to transparency and trust. Running your own business means you get to choose who you work with.

What’s the most challenging aspect?

Scaling a fast-growing business while maintaining peerless levels of service and identifying future trends and requirements in good time to test and market new products and services.

What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?

Honesty, transparency and integrity will take you a long way. There is no place for shortcuts or work-arounds when seeking to build a sustainable, profitable business. Understand your strengths. Employ others with skillsets that address your weaknesses. Be humble.

What would you advise someone starting a business?

Write a business plan and have others you trust aggressively challenge it. Be prepared to modify it or even start again (changes are easy at this stage).

Launch with suitable backing and expect to devote an extraordinary amount of time to your venture.

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made?

Believing that everyone intends to pay their bills.

What three qualities are most important to success?

Honesty, integrity and agility.

How organised are you?

Well organised at work, by necessity. Less so at home.

How do you dress for work?

Pressed suits, polished shoes and ties for days in front of customers but far more casual attire in the office when getting work done ranks above formality.

What can’t you be without every day?

I sell telecommunications, so my phone and a laptop.

Lunch at your desk or going out?

At my desk. It’s not the healthiest approach but new businesses need to achieve momentum swiftly.

Do you continue to study?

I’m always learning, often business-related, sometimes otherwise.

What do you read?

I’m a big fan of Blinkist, which provides insightful book summaries in just minutes. It’s good for those who are time-poor.

How are you planning for retirement?

I tried it and failed miserably. My plan is to never fully retire again but instead stay involved at a level that keeps me engaged. My colleagues might see it differently!

Interview by Will Hamilton, intermediary, global marketing consultant and Henley town councillor