Ryan Adams, CEO – Signify Technology

Signify Technology is a bespoke recruitment solutions agency that serves the Scala programming language community.

  • Ryan is the epitome of an entrepreneur, with a positive approach to risk-taking. When he founded Signify Technology in 2016, he did not start slowly, but began with two full-time employees. With his ‘all or nothing’ mindset, he opened four global offices in four years, and has achieved 884% growth in sales since 2017.
  • The company’s ethos has been based on values and skills, rather than background or education. This mindset has led to the creation of a diverse and forward-thinking company.
  • Although he lost his mother to Covid-19, Ryan remained focused on his staff during the pandemic, ensuring that Signify neither made any redundancies nor furloughed any employees. At the beginning of lockdown Ryan ensured all staff would be individually supported. There was heavy investment in staff skills, with multiple training workshops in areas such as ‘Lead Generation’ and ‘Goal Setting’. This enabled the firm to hit new company records.
  • With the first US office opening in Los Angeles 2019, as CEO he led the business across two continents. This brought the challenge of supporting employees in two different time zones: he used video calls to keep as much contact as possible with the teams in both countries and organised weekly social events to keep engagement high.
  • Because Ryan wanted his company to be diverse and full of opportunities, when teaming up with clients each consultant is encouraged to reflect that positivity and diversity. Campaigns run by Signify Technology showing examples of this are the ‘Women in Tech’ and ‘Black Stories Matter’ YouTube series. As a black business owner himself, Ryan is enthusiastic about amplifying marginalised voices.

Judges’ comments: “Ryan Adams impressed on so many fronts, including his infectious enthusiasm and commitment. His passion, ambition for his business and his focus on diversity and inclusion are to be admired. Despite personal adversity, he has helped his business prosper through a difficult year.”

Also: The judges were inspired by great examples of leadership in a very competitive category.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Chris Sheard, Managing Director – SR2 – Socially Responsible Recruitment

Ryan McCabe, CEO – Odro