We’d like to wish all our members, partners, associates and affiliates a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It’s been a year of growth for the EMCRC, which has seen our community of business members swell by 150%!

We’ve also grown as a team to serve them, and now have a dedicated engagement manager whom our members can talk to directly to find out how to be safer online.

Our Board saw a change too, with Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts joining established members Dave Kirby (Chairman), Colin Ellis (Managing Director), Kevin Modiri (Partner at Nelsons Solicitors) and Mike Kapur OBE CStJ (Founder & Director of Signum Corporate Communications).

Thanks to all our Cyber Essentials Partners, including 2024 newcomers Jae Forrester at Custodia Continuity and Dawn O'Connor at Shift Key Cyber who joined our existing Partners: in2secure, Kit365, RDS Global, Safewatch Online Ltd, Red Circles Cyber Security, Redpalm Technology Services, TecSec Services Ltd, CyberLab and 3B Data Security.

We thank our Community Ambassadors Nelsons Solicitors, Voyage Education Partnership, Thompson & Richardson, Datcom, Better-IT Limited, E2 Technology Solutions, Collective Inspiration and Collective Security UK; our Advisory Group members Heather Toomey of the ICO, Neil Sharpley of the FSB, Peter Lawrence of the East Midlands Chamber, Pri Alagoda of Nottingham Trent University, Steven Furnell of the University of Nottingham, Chris Lambert at Datasense, Ryan Green at RMG, Ismini Vasileiou of De Montfort University, John Pennick at Berkeley Insurance and Luke Vere at Voyage Education Partnership.

 And we extend our thanks to Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team (LVET), NNBN and Lincolnshire Care Association, who all became Friends of the Centre this year and joined The ANME, University of Leicester, De Montfort University and the British Independent Retailers Association as member organisations who are affiliated with us.

2025 promises to be an exciting year for the EMCRC. Strengthening supply chains will play a key role in the Centre's 2025 activity, along with our continued outreach focus, visiting businesses directly to raise awareness and offer support.

Managing Director, Colin Ellis, commented, “We’ve grown significantly this year and are putting more resources in to serving our region’s businesses, that’s because we want businesses in the East Midlands to grow and prosper too.

"To do that they must become resilient against cyber attacks. We are here to help businesses to do just that, and if we can't help directly. we know a person who can!”

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).