A new poll of SMEs across the East Midlands reveals - while 2023 may be a challenging year - they still expect on average a 21% growth in revenue. But will businesses consider their cyber security?

The Skills Horizon barometer, launched by the Skills for Life campaign, asked 1,250 SMEs in England about their challenges and opportunities when it comes to skills and recruitment in the year ahead, and has found many are exploring the best ways to strengthen their workforce to achieve this growth.

In the East Midlands specifically, it reveals 69% are planning to invest in upskilling their workforce, bolstering their capabilities for the year ahead.

From our perspective, we see upskilling not just as a method to enhance a workforce’s skillset with ability-bolstering practices, but also training them on the basics about how they can uphold the business’s cyber resilience.

Our Security Awareness Training is an affordable service which can help staff spot the crafty methods that cyber criminals use to hack their way into a business’s IT infrastructure, accounts or network.

The training can also make people understand that what they do on a personal level, chiefly social media and emails, can be risky if they’re clicking on links and oversharing on Instagram, for example.

The Skills for Life campaign aims to help SMEs understand all the training and employment schemes available to them, including Apprenticeships, T Levels, Skills Bootcamps, HTQs and Multiply numeracy courses.

Businesses who are considering hiring employees can access a range of government programmes offering work experience or upskilling existing staff, some of which offer financial incentives.

However, this campaign doesn’t touch on cyber, so that’s where we come in.

Nearly half (45%) of SMEs in the East Midlands rank staffing challenges - such as recruitment and skills - amongst their top three concerns for 2023.

However, over a quarter (27%) plan to invest in building digital skills within their company and nearly a third (31%) will encourage staff to engage in current or free training resources - such as Skills for Life Bootcamps.

As well as all the above, we strongly encourage SMEs to rank cyber security high on their 2023 agenda, and it would be positive to see a high percentage of businesses consider it.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help train your staff to become the first line of defense against cyber-crime.

More on Security Awareness Training...

• Small businesses should consider Security Awareness Training
• The most frequently asked questions about Security Awareness Training
• Datcom become first East Midlands MSP to receive our Security Awareness Training

Reporting

Report all Fraud and Cybercrime to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or online. Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. Report SMS scams by forwarding the original message to 7726 (spells SPAM on the keypad).