Can you believe Fourteen IP is 14 years old?
I cannot! It’s been an incredible journey with its fair share of challenges, but what we have achieved together is something to be very proud of. Our first customer was Macdonald Hotel Lymm (Thanks to John Rawcliffe), quickly followed by work for Four Seasons in Hampshire and Baku. Along with Starwood and others, we are eternally grateful for the support of our customers and vendor partners over these past 14 years. No doubt you will ask me what I would change, but I pretty much wouldn’t change anything, even the things that were not so great.
What is your greatest achievement in those fourteen years?
Still being in business must be up there! Joking aside, we have achieved a lot; our US & Canadian businesses are thriving, and we have an amazing team in Orlando. Setting up in the US from scratch, then surviving a pandemic, then continuing to do as well as we have is, without a doubt, an incredible achievement. Building our own global carrier-grade telephony platforms from scratch and making a huge success of them is also a fantastic achievement and something we are all incredibly proud of. Amazing work from Mark Kettle, Dan Cunliffe, Kevin Burgess, Dan Dobbs, and Colin Agnew. Those platforms serve hundreds of thousands of users in 25 countries and operate at pretty much 100% reliability. We have managed to do it all while retaining our culture and personality and always with a smile on our faces. We have also never lost that drive to listen and create new solutions to make our customers smile
What would you say to yourself 14 years ago, starting this journey?
Don’t do it, you fool! I probably cannot get away with putting in writing what I would say! But I wouldn’t change much. We have learned so much, and Fourteen IP is in an amazing company, with a great team, incredible and supportive customers and partners, and a world of opportunity. We can look after everyone well, and we can and should be proud of everything we have achieved, so whilst there are some things I would change, I am very happy where we are and who we are. To answer your question, I would say, go put some smiles on people’s faces.’
With all the development and growth over the last 14 years, how do you envision the next 14 years will be?
Now, that is an impossible question. It’s hard enough to plan for this year and next, never mind a decade down the line. AI is having and will continue to have such a huge impact that things will change, but we have always been innovators, often first (with the pain and the gain that brings) and I expect that we will continue with our positive, innovative attitude and continue to create new solutions to help our customers. One thing I will say is I will not be here in 14 years; one of the secrets of my success is my amazing wife and daughter, and I intend to spend many happy years with them, travelling the world, but perhaps not quite as much as I do now!
What have you got planned for the big event? Any surprises you can let us in on?
I haven’t done much of the planning, and of course, we have been celebrating for 13 months already! We had amazing Christmas parties in December to celebrate with the US team on scavenger hunts around Universal Orlando and the UK team taking over the amazing Midland Hotel Morecambe while solving a murder. There will be cakes, games, and lots of fun in Wigan and Orlando on the 14th, as well as in the Tolley household, as it’s my Birthday too (how about that for a coincidence!!)
