Friendship, ambition and early stage support from Oxford Innovation Space helps Planet IT rocket to success

Harwell Innovation Centre, which is managed by Oxford Innovation Space, has an impressive 25-year history of accelerating science and technology businesses and developing the business leaders of tomorrow.

Businesses like Planet IT – an award-winning IT support provider in Oxfordshire that specialises in cybersecurity. Started by childhood friends Gavin Jones and Sean Smith in 2003, Planet IT has grown from its humble begins at Harwell into a leading IT company, which now employs almost 100 staff and boasts a prestigious international client base.

Co-founders Gavin and Sean demonstrated their entrepreneurial flair at aged 12, when they started a car washing business to earn money for a Nintendo Game Boy. As they grew up, they did various jobs together on market stalls and in supermarkets until they both embarked on careers in the IT sector.

In 2003, aged 24, they decided to start a business together following their frustration from working for IT companies who were more about profit than client satisfaction. Just over a year later in 2005, they moved out of their home office into Harwell Innovation Centre, which is based on the world-renowned Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. Planet IT became the 50th business to move into the centre, which has now supported over 300 businesses.

Flashback to 2005: Planet IT co-founders Gavin Jones (pictured left) and Sean Smith (pictured right) are welcomed by Jo Stevens (centre) of Oxford Innovation Space as they move into their first office at Harwell Innovation Centre in 2005 — the launchpad for what would become an incredible business journey.

Sean Smith explains: “When we looked around the Harwell Innovation Centre, we were new to business and very nervous about signing a contract for an office. However, the team was very supportive and put us at ease. They made the entire process a positive experience for us.

“The help Oxford Innovation Space gave us, especially in the early days was essential to our success. Being in the Harwell centre meant our clients received a professional first impression of our business. For example, we were based at Harwell when an important client, the Royal Household, came to inspect us as part of the due diligence process. The centre team went above and beyond to support us that day, and were integral to us securing that contract.”

Planet IT were able to benefit from admin support from the centre team and networking events, which provided them with valuable introductions to key people and the opportunity to learn about other businesses. As the business grew, they were able to easily upgrade their office space three times to accommodate their needs. Eventually in 2018, having grown to a team of 30 staff, they graduated from the centre and moved into their own premises at Milton Park.

Today the business has almost 100 employees, supporting clients across the UK and Europe. Clients that include the BBC, the Royal Household, the National Portrait Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, Conde Naste and Oxford City Council, to name just a few.

2025: Co-founders of Planet IT, Gavin Jones (pictured left) and Sean Smith (pictured right), reunite with Jo Stevens (centre), MD of Oxford Innovation Space, at the Harwell Innovation Centre’s 25th anniversary event.

Gavin Jones adds: “We’ve grown beyond our expectations. Some of the clients we have now, we never dreamt we’d be working with when we first started out. What we learnt at Harwell Innovation Centre helped us fill in the gaps in our knowledge and accelerate us as business owners. We wouldn’t be where we are today without that early support.”

Testament to Planet IT’s success is the growing number of accolades they have won over the years. These include being named Kaspersky Reseller of the Year 2006, receiving an AAA star award from a Global Medical Company in Singapore, being named as Sophos EMEA Partner of the Year in 2022, becoming an approved Crown Commercial Service (CCS) supplier and being recognised in the top five best tech companies to work for in the UK.

Gavin continues: “Our time at Harwell Innovation Centre was also instrumental in helping us develop our own company culture. We saw how the centre team instigated introductions, developed partnerships and created a nurturing environment. Similarly, we wanted to build a business with a safe, encouraging culture. Our first employee Adrian Sweeney is now our Chief Commercial Officer and this year, we have six staff celebrating 10 years with us.”

The co-founders are also committed to helping young people develop a career in IT and supporting their local community. In 2013, they began a partnership with a local college to provide apprenticeship opportunities. More recently, they have donated 200 laptops to their old school, Oxford Academy.

Talking about their longstanding business partnership, Gavin says: “It is a gift to have been on this journey with someone you trust. We’re ridiculously lucky to have such a great friendship and our differences make us stronger as a team. I’d definitely advise people to find a partner to start a business with as it can be quite lonely as a solo business owner.”

Sean concludes: “It can be stressful starting and running a business, but those challenges change over time. All the plaudits we receive today are for all the things we earnt in the early days. Those first few years were the most testing, but the team at Harwell helped us through them and were a key element in our journey.”

Planet IT’s success highlights the value of innovation centres, which combine flexible, specialist space with expert in-house business support services.

Oxford Innovation Space runs the UK’s largest network of innovation centres and currently supports over 870 businesses across 31 centres. Working closely with universities, local authorities, science parks, developers and investors, the company creates dynamic environments for entrepreneurs to innovate, collaborate, develop their technologies and grow their businesses.

For more information on Oxford Innovation Space, visit Oxford Innovation Space | UK & Ireland’s largest network of innovation centres

For more information on Planet IT, visit Planet IT. Oxfordshire’s No.1 IT Support Provider and IT Supplier