The rise and further rise of The Adaptavist Group
Simon Haighton-Williams, CEO of The Adaptavist Group, wonders if his companies’ software is used in Antarctica? It’s a reasonable meditation given that the group has grown so rapidly in recent years that they now have more than 23,000 customers across 166 countries, representing more than half of the Fortune 500.
Founded in 2005 as Adaptavist, becoming a group in 2022 following a number of acquisitions, they have picked up a gong or two on the way and have now landed their second Royal nod of approval. They previously won a Queen’s Award in 2019 and by the time this King’s Award for international trade runs out in 2029, they will have been able to carry the Royal crest for nearly half of their existence.
“So many awards are ‘pay to play’ but this is a real award that acknowledges the value and impact our people have created,” said Simon. “These awards don’t come about by any one person’s work, so this reflects our strong belief in teamwork and it’s something to be genuinely proud of.”
With a simply stated mission of making businesses work better, The Adaptavist Group are experts at delivering innovative software, tailored solutions and quality services across some of the world’s most trusted technology ecosystems, including Atlassian, AWS, Slack, monday.com, and GitLab.
Constantly improving is in their DNA – the clue’s in their name – and they have been early adopters of harnessing the possibilities of AI to ensure that they evolve in line with technology’s ferocious pace of change.
And it’s worked. In Simon’s first year at Adaptavist, 15 years ago, turnover was £800k with a staff of 15; last year turnover swelled to £236m. In the last two years The Adaptavist Group has also launched four new brands and now employs 1,100 people.
Simon has built the business in his own image and in 2023 the group was recognised with ‘a best place to work’ award from Campaign magazine while this year it has been ranked as one of the world’s top 100 most flexible employers by Jobgether.
Continuing success means more of the same, according to Simon: “We only buy companies where there’s a good cultural fit, that’s really important to us. I’m open and honest; we treat people like adults; we devolve responsibility to the individual and the team as much as possible. My mantra has always been: “build a business that I’d want to work for”, so we’ll continue to grow organically, invest in new start-up businesses and not be afraid to experiment and to learn from not succeeding.”
As for Antarctica? If not today, then inevitably someday. After that, who knows, The Adaptavist Group’s rise might go intergalactic.