The Truth About Building a Business People Actually Trust | Adam Willcox 55 Group Interview
Energy suppliers are about as trusted as politicians. Most businesses in a low-trust industry accept that and compete on price. Adam Willcox built his business to do the opposite.
Adam runs 55 Group, a family-run energy business with 12 staff that has grown to almost £10 million. In this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by ActionCOACH UK, he explains how his team lifted customer retention from 84% to 92%, won a customer service award, and why he now attends just four meetings a month.
The secret? Deliver what customers expect, plus a little bit more. Then let your team own it.
What You'll Learn:
- Agility as an advantage: Why a small team that can decide on Monday and deliver by Tuesday afternoon beats big competitors tied up in red tape.
- The WhatsApp service system: How customer WhatsApp groups with directors, sales and service staff mean a message at 9:30pm still gets a reply.
- Good is not world-class: How Geoff Ramm's "celebrity customer service" talk at BizX 2025 showed Adam's team they were good but not yet world-class.
- Team-led change: Why the improvements came from the whole team, not management demanding from the top, and what that did for the culture.
- Retention economics: Why moving retention from 84% to 92% matters so much when onboarding a new customer is expensive and margins are tight.
- Relationship-first rules: Why 55 Group won't take on a customer it hasn't met face to face, and how six days of personal Christmas videos reached almost 1,000 customers.
- Stepping back: How hiring an MD with an energy auditing background moved the business beyond a pricing desk and gave Adam the option to step away.
- Enter the award: Why putting yourself forward for recognition can be the catalyst that changes the business.
Adam Willcox founded 55 Group to turn the energy sector's poor reputation for service on its head. Over 10 years he has grown it to almost £10 million with a team of 12, with some customers now 10 years in. Working with his ActionCOACH, Gary Crosby, Adam has handed day-to-day running to MD Chris and expanded into energy auditing, solar and LED lighting. At 35, he is now building an industrial estate off the A1 near Stamford.
If You Haven't Started: Ask your customers what you do well, what you could do better and why they would stay or leave. Look for the odd nugget in the generic answers. If You're Already Delivering Good Service: Spend a full day with your whole team working out the gap between good and world-class, then let the team build the plan.
For Everyone: Run an exit interview with every customer who leaves. Then pick something you want to be known for and enter an award for it. Whether you run a service business, a family firm or a lean team competing with much bigger players, this episode shows how trust is built one relationship at a time. Subscribe for weekly conversations with business owners who are doing it.
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