When Séan Smith founded INFOSMITH in 2020, he brought with him years of experience across a variety of industries and organisations. What began as a vision to help businesses make better use of their data has grown into a specialist consultancy focused on delivering practical, trusted data solutions.
Reflecting on his early career, Séan explains:
“I’ve always lived in Leicestershire, being educated locally and continuing the trend doing a Physics and Astrophysics Degree at Nottingham Trent University. After leaving university I worked for Leicester County Council, Severn Trent Water, HCC Tokyo Marine (insurance), Carphone Warehouse, and Capital One. In 2020, I started INFOSMITH after taking VR from Capital One, and building up the business while working at Global Payments and GFK Marketing on short term contracts.”
Those experiences across the public sector, utilities, insurance, retail and finance gave Séan a unique perspective on the challenges organisations face when managing data effectively. It was this insight that ultimately led to the creation of INFOSMITH.
Today, INFOSMITH helps organisations transform the way they work with information and data. Rather than simply implementing technology, the business takes a strategic approach, helping clients understand their data, streamline processes and make more informed decisions.
As Séan describes:
“INFOSMITH is a data strategy solutions consultancy, meaning we add value to the data strategies of businesses no matter their size, helping them spend less time in Excel spreadsheets. We have developed a methodology for looking at data holistically, allowing us to understand our clients’ requirements and restrictions, advising, leading and installing solutions that build trust in their data and robustness in their processes.”
Like many entrepreneurs, Séan recognised the importance of accessing the right support at the right time. His introduction to The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity came through a local business support programme.
“It was the Loughborough University Incubator programme, Martin Hageman came and gave a very thorough and informative presentation on what was available.”
After learning more about the Charity’s interest-free business loans, Séan decided to apply. Throughout the process, he found the support offered by the team invaluable.
“Sarah Hope and Martin went above and beyond and were very helpful in preparing me for what was expected.”
The funding has provided INFOSMITH with the flexibility to invest strategically as the business continues to grow and develop new services.
“We are still making use of the funds gradually, but so far we have allocated use of the loan for market investigations, advertising costs, new equipment for development of the new services, and legal fees for partnership agreements and increased insurance.”
These investments are helping to strengthen the foundations of the business, enabling Séan to explore new opportunities while ensuring the company remains well-equipped for future growth.
Looking back on the support he received, Séan is clear about the role The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity has played in his entrepreneurial journey.
“I was very pleased to seed the loan, and have told others (where eligible) to look into applying.”
For more information about our interest-free business loans, available up to £20,000, please click here
To read more on INFOSMITH, head over to their website here.
