I am CEO of the North East Business Resilience Centre (NEBRC) which is a private not for profit membership company using a unique nexus between corporate business, law enforcement and academia to provide cyber security and online fraud prevention advice to small and medium enterprises concentrating on those that are vulnerable and lack knowledge.

I;

• Saw a critical gap in the market and founded a unique company with Home Office funding from start up implementing necessary governance and procedures
• Sought additional funding via sponsorship and investment from strategic corporate partners to enable sustained operations enabling growth of the staff by 300% over years 2-4
• Secured other funding streams from external grants and bids and commercial income generation such as sales of more services to allow 50 % growth of income and reinvestment in the region
• Negotiated and won tenders and contracts with local authorities, business, academia and government- £100k LEP Leeds, £100k NHS, £25k Anglo Amercian, £30k Proceeds of crime (AGADE), £40k CENTRIC to be involved in research,
• Grew the company from over 4000 members in 5 years with no qualified leads- cyber security is often a last expense considered by SME’s and many fail to realise the benefits
• Achieved increase in turnover by 450% 4 years from start up- corporate sponsorship (CSR), sales of student services, enhanced partner membership and vendor promotion 0- £300k pa
• Created a centre of excellence now replicated across the country
• Established new partnerships in the North east blending into the tech eco system
• Sucessfully identify and manage risk and operate calmly under extreme pressure-devising and maintaining the risk register for the company and dealing with any operational incidents
• Oversee the financial and legal governance of the company with appropriate rigour utlising professional services, where appropriate and financially viable
• Manage multi disciplinary and diverse teams in disparate locations as home workers
• Build relationships with senior leaders in large corporate organisations in addition to Home Office and National Cyber Security Centre (front facing arm of GCHQ) to ensure ongoing support and publicity
• Speak publicly to large audiences and with passion regarding the business offering with sole purpose to gain new members
• Oversee and instigate PR campaigns to further promote the membership base including use of SEO, digital key work optimisation, PR press pieces, blogs, newsletters, mail shots and analytical use of the CRM to chart engagement and seek results on campaigns.