The Cyber Resilience Centre for the South West (SWCRC) is delighted to announce the appointment of two additions to its Advisory Group (AG).

The SWCRC is part of a police-led network of centres being established across the country that provide businesses and organisations, with an affordable way to access cyber security services and resource to help safeguard themselves from cyber-attacks.

The Advisory Group provides the SWCRC with guidance, advice and influences its direction. Its newest members are Phil Bridgeman from Business West Chambers of Commerce and Tom Marshall, from the Business Cyber Centre (BCC). Both bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the stellar line-up of businesses and organisations from across the South West of England that are shaping the way the SWCRC helps micro-businesses and SMEs stay safer online.

Welcoming the latest additions to the centre is Superintendent Mark Moore, director of the SWCRC. He said: “We are thrilled to have Phil and Tom as representatives from Business West Chambers of Commerce and the Business Cyber Centre respectively, joining the organisation. What they offer in terms of knowledge and expertise will be of great benefit to the centre and invaluable to the users of our services.

“We are looking forward to working alongside them so that we can raise further awareness among the region’s wider community of business owners and leaders. We also want to encourage a mindset shift about the importance of cyber resilience and how it’s a vital contributor for all-round business success.”

Phil Bridgeman is head of membership and customer excellence at Business West Chambers of Commerce, which is the largest business membership organisation in the Southwest. Phil manages the membership team and helps Chambers of Commerce members across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Bristol, and Bath connect, grow and improve their businesses.

Having worked predominantly in sales, service and account management roles and more recently in business support, Phil’s passion is finding ways to help customers solve their problems. He said: “Helping our member community stay up to date with the latest threats, install prevention measures and minimise the risk to their business is an important function. We are pleased to be able to support the Cyber Resilience Centre for the South West by joining the Advisory Group and continuing to help our members wherever we can.”

Fellow AG member Tom Marshall is a business development manager for the Business Cyber Centre (BCC), the UK’s first business-led cyber centre. Tom has a strong background in commercial and residential property, as well as working with start-ups and micro-SMEs through to large corporates and MoD primes. As lead for the BCC, Tom is focussed on mobilising the physical premises whilst establishing the commercial strategy for the BCC as a start-up business.

Speaking about joining the SWCRC, Tom commented: “I’m proud to join the SWCRC Advisory Group to help drive the importance of cyber security for businesses of all sizes. Maintaining strong relationships across organisations such as the SWCRC and the Business Cyber Centre will be instrumental in ensuring businesses can grow safely.”

The SWCRC is a police-led, not-for-profit organisation which helps small and medium-sized businesses in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Bristol and Gloucestershire build and improve cyber resilience maturity, with accessible support and guidance available through free core membership.

Members are steered in the right direction with simple and practical resources, toolkits and regular cyber updates, with the option of affordable services for more technical security investigations.