According to the most recent NatWest Regional PMI data, the East Midlands has experienced the fastest increase in new business activity since May 2022. But how many of those businesses are considering their cyber security?

The NatWest East Midlands PMI Business Activity Index, a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the region's manufacturing and service sectors, registered 51.5 in April, up from 51.2 in March.

Increased output is said to be the result of greater new order inflows and further boosts in client demand.

Data from April indicated an increase in business confidence in the East Midlands private sector. Output expectations have risen to their highest level since February 2022, with companies in the region more optimistic about output over the next 12 months than the UK as a whole.

Furthermore, firms reported a renewed increase in employment in April. The upturn was the third in the last four months, with overall job creation remaining moderate.

This positive news is great for the region, but with a greater upsurge in business activity comes the greater need for cyber security, and we’re finding that businesses still see cyber risks and threats as ‘something that’ll happen to some other business’.

Here at the EMCRC we’re trying to remove that thought process from the heads of business leaders and decision makers, instead replacing it with ‘let’s consider our cyber security as a cyber attack could impact us greatly’. Or words to that effect at least, because it absolutely could impact a business greatly.

Business is booming, and that is a real boon for the region. Recruitment is on the rise, another great sign. But again, are your new recruits up-to-speed with basic, first-line-of-defence cyber security practices?

As a police-led, not for profit initiative, we want businesses to thrive, but we want them to thrive safely.

Rashel Chowdhury, NatWest Midlands and East regional board, said:

"East Midlands firms signalled a sustained upturn in output during April, as a further rise in new orders supported total activity. Increased demand spurred firms on to expand workforce numbers, and the rate of job creation was the fastest since last October.

In turn, companies were more upbeat in their expectations for the coming year as business confidence reached the highest in over a year.”

Rashel talks of the uptick in employment and business confidence. We want you to be cyber confident, and for your employees to be skilled in terms of the threats they should be looking out for.

We can offer awareness, guidance and support entirely free of charge via our community membership option, that's our base level offering. We can also offer affordable Security Awareness Training, a fun and informative session that will assist your staff when it comes to looking out for the risks and threats that lurk out there.

Also, if you want to know if your company website is safe, we can offer a First Step Web Assessment.

The complete list of our cyber security services is available here.

If you need to chat to a member of our team, you can do so here.

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).