Adrian Hope was the son of a Scottish merchant in Rotterdam. He went into business in Amsterdam with his two brothers, Archibald Junior and Thomas, as general merchants, dealing in a dizzying array of commodities- including money, grain, bullion, diamonds, textiles, tobacco, tea, wine and timber. After Archibald's death, Adrian and Thomas's tireless work  transformed the company into one of the most profitable in Europe. The Hopes became heavily involved in the West Indies, which depended for labour on slavery. They specialised in plantation loans, in which the entire produce of the plantation was remitted to the lender, who would supervise its sale in order to secure repayment. In this way, the Hopes helped the plantation economy to become integrated into a global network of financiers and consumers.