Cyber Essentials Readiness and Certification Support

Cyber Essentials is a UK Government-backed certification covering five core control areas designed to reduce the most common internet-based threats. It is increasingly expected by customers, public sector buyers, enterprise procurement teams and cyber insurers - and it gives your team a clear, defensible baseline that the basics are in place.

Customers ask for it because it answers a simple question on supplier security questionnaires, tenders and insurance forms: 'do you take cyber security seriously?' For most UK SMEs it is now easier to list the customers who don't ask for it than the ones who do.

The five controls in plain English: Firewalls control what can connect to the business. Secure configuration removes unsafe settings and defaults. User access control gives people only the access they actually need. Malware protection keeps malicious software off devices. Security update management keeps software patched and supported. We help you evidence each control - often pulling data directly from your Microsoft 365 tenant rather than asking you to write things from scratch.

We start with a short readiness review - typically a 30-minute call followed by a structured questionnaire. Most businesses have gaps, and most gaps are minor configuration issues we can close in days. We tell you upfront if a gap will take real effort, and we will scope the assessment carefully so you certify what you can defend.

Cyber Essentials Plus adds an independent technical audit by a qualified assessor. We handle the pre-audit remediation, attend the audit with you and fix any findings on the spot where possible. Certification lasts 12 months - we diary the renewal, refresh evidence and re-submit so the certification never lapses, which can break compliance with many contracts.