Scott Muncaster, Managing Director of Adactus, speaks to us about his career so far, how he has ensured his company’s growth and his management philosophy.
What has your career looked like so far?
My career started at M&S, where I worked in many areas of the business, including food operations and new selling channels – food and flower ordering, wedding cakes – all the stressful stuff! I then spent eight years at Yum!, leading the introduction of online ordering for the Pizza Hut Delivery part of the business – this is where I first met Adactus, as their client. After a few years of working as a consultant to various restaurant groups, the chance came for me to buy Adactus as part of the business was acquired by a client.
Can you tell us a bit more about your business and how it started?
At Adactus, we are a people-first software company helping businesses deliver great customer experiences – we have helped some of the biggest names in hospitality. Our solutions are tailored to clients’ specific requirements, budget and timelines. They are scalable, built with future needs in mind and are now configurable to midsized hospitality businesses.
Beyond hospitality, our products can help any business that needs to take orders, bookings or appointments, or make sense of customer and sales data. We’ve built websites, mobile apps; e-commerce platforms; resource allocation and labour scheduling services; booking systems; football league management systems; reporting suites and dashboards; allergy data management solutions for restaurants; complex integrations with Office 365 for payroll and asset management.
How has the business grown since it started and how did you ensure growth?
From 2016 to 2019, turnover and profit grew steadily. The pandemic caused our hospitality clients’ businesses to stop trading for extended periods, which caused technology programmes to be paused and postponed. Sadly, some hospitality clients did not survive this downturn, while others were dramatically reduced in size. As a result, revenues reduced by over a third in 2020, though prudent cost control allowed us to remain profitable.
Since then, the hospitality sector has been hit by ongoing Covid issues, rises in food, labour, and utility costs and now the impact of the cost-of-living squeeze and the conflict in Ukraine. Since the start of 2022, revenues have grown again – partly as our hospitality clients restarted their strategic planning and partly through winning new clients across other sectors. Our operational profit has been squeezed by significant cost increases that we’re not yet able to pass on to clients, but we remain profitable.
In the last 12 months, we’ve invested significantly in the development of the Adactus Customer range of products, we’ve recruited seven fantastic new hires since December 2021 and further investment in development, as well as sales and marketing, is planned for the balance of 2022.
What’s the business’ approach to management?
Hire great people then promote from within. Whenever a vacancy arises, our first thought is – who do we have who is ready to step up? Every employee has a development plan, so we know where they are and what their career aspirations are. Every new thing – a project, a new client, a new role – is an opportunity for someone and they invariably seize the day and make me proud.
What is your company’s vision and goal?
We have six major goals; they are as follows:
- Governance – We aim to create a sustainable and scalable structure and operating model in order to grow the business.
- Team – We continue to build an amazing team and culture and ensure Adactus continues to be a great place to work and an employer of choice.
- Clients – We continue to build enduring, meaningful relationships with a growing client base and really add value to their employee, customers, and shareholders.
- Commercialisation – we’re building products that stand-out from the crowd in enhancing customer experiences; we’re wrapping personalised service around this, so our clients have their own roadmap – not a generic one everyone must follow, regardless of relevance.
- Compliance and Accreditation – we’re maintaining our Microsoft partnership qualifications, GDPR, security and DevOps accreditation compliance so clients can see we’re hitting the highest technical standards. We’re also working towards accreditation for our Environmental, Social and Governance standards, so they know we’re doing the right things as an employer and part of the community.
How do you equip your staff with skills and knowledge?
It turns out, if you hire great people and then coach and train them well then, it’s not actually hard! We’re agile practitioners using, typically, Microsoft technologies – we find people steeped in these disciplines – or at the start of their career, keen to learn them – and go from there. Supported by great marketing, finance and HR professionals and with external expertise available when needed (training, leadership coaching, employment law etc.), we are in great shape.
How do you ensure different teams in your organisation work together?
We have a RTB (Run the business) team that does exactly what it says on the tin, they run the business. We continually communicate and work together on projects and learn from each other in all areas of the business. The RTB team learn and collaborate daily to ensure all the teams work together and service our clients efficiently and effectively.
How do you work with other executives within the C-suite to make sure your voice is heard?
Not by shouting! I’ve never been an ‘instant impact’ person – I’ve found I’m better at building knowledge and relationships over time, based on adding some real value once I understand what my clients or colleagues need. I try to keep things simple, breaking any challenge down to bite-size pieces and finding a good place to start. I’m a big believer in momentum too – if we can make a start, the rest of the journey will reveal itself. I waited half my career for agile to become a thing!
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