Our History

Part 1: The early years

Let's roll back to the turn of the millennium, when dial up internet was still a thing, the iPhone didn't exist, and Facebook was only a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg's eye.

Tom left college to study web design. At the same time, Joel was at the University of Surrey. There, he completed a placement year in industry programming audio software.

The stars aligned and Tom and Joel joined forces. In a converted garage, they worked on a pilot web project for university tuition fees for one of their first clients. They also started working in ecommerce with the launch of a fragrance distributor.

Over the next couple of years, Joel and Tom took on more clients, some of whom we continue to partner with today. They enjoyed facing all the challenges and learning that come with starting a business.

Part 2: Growth begins

Fast forward to 2008. Switchplane moved to its first office and hired its first three staff members to join Joel and Tom. We started working with some of our longstanding clients; wholesale fragrance distributor H&B Supplies and private hire firm British Airport Transfers.

The early 2010s saw more growth. Another office change, a Young Entrepreneur award for Joel, more staff. We also welcomed more clients such as the liquid waste management company Moody Sewage.

Part 3: Award season and process changes

In 2014, we launched the Stay Alive app for our client, Grassroots Suicide Prevention. The following year, they won an award for Technology and IT to Improve Patient Safety for this app. They won a second innovation award from the NHS Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups.

2017 saw the adoption of Agile Scrum methodology for the Switchplane team. This meant a significant improvement to the processes around how we work. Along with our clients, we became familiar with terminology such as "sprints", "daily stand up", and "burndown".

The ever-growing team moved into yet a larger office and enjoyed new relationships with LandCruise Motorhome Hire in the travel sector and others in the insurance sector.

In 2018, Switchplane won an innovation award with East Sussex College Group for a work experience platform and began a successful partnership with the UK's largest specialist fencing installer Littlewood Fencing. Insurance underwriters ERGO came on board in 2019.

Part 4: The COVID years

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how we worked overnight.

We launched Chalk Eastbourne, a local community for the digital sector, with the aims to improve the perception of Eastbourne, support young talent, and make recruitment easier.

Our first SaaS product, Julia Can Help, became a reality. This product helps Allied Health Professionals record, reflect and report on their CPD activities - a known headache across the sector.

We welcomed new clients too; pump manufacturers Viking Pump Hygienic and the lift maintenance company HiWire.

Part 5: The growth of our community

We moved into Eastbourne's FOUNDRY space in 2023, where we now have an office to support 10 team members when they're on-site.

We held the first Eastbourne DigiFest, a tech conference for business, in 2023 to showcase the wealth of knowledge and expertise we have in Eastbourne. The now annual conference welcomes over 400 attendees to the Kings Centre in Eastbourne for a day of learning, networking, and building connections.

New clients Clarke Roofing, ICS Roofing, and Summit Environmental joined our roster, cementing an established expertise in the construction sector, along with ecommerce systems provider Identivue, funeral director Arthur C Towner, manufacturer Marlow Ropes, and insurance broker Quality Care Group.

Part 6: Switchplane today

Today, we have a broad portfolio of custom software clients across the UK and covering a wide range of sectors. These include construction, manufacturing, education, wellbeing, logistics, travel, and insurance. See examples of our work.

With the explosion of interest in AI, MDs Tom and Joel have developed their passion for public speaking and engaging audiences on AI, productivity, and business operations. Switchplane's consultancy offering has also expanded to support businesses navigating this "new world of work".

Eastbourne DigiFest continues to grow year on year, celebrating its fourth outing in 2026. Established client Grassroots Suicide Prevention won a Tech for Good award for the Stay Alive app, which has nearly reached one million app downloads worldwide.

Part 7: Our future

If you'd like to become part of our future and partner with us to drive transformational growth in your business, get in touch today to get started.