Enabling safe, secure and “trusted” digital business

By Steven Cockcroft, Managing Director, CySec Professionals Ltd

Greater Manchester is on a bold mission: to become the most secure, inclusive, and trusted digital city-region in the world. The GMCA Digital Blueprint 2023–2026 lays out a transformative vision, one that hinges on trust, resilience, and inclusive growth.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Greater Manchester based businesses have already stepped up to that challenge and are realising real opportunity, with many new solutions being developed and sold both regionally and globally.

Digital Trust Essentials®, developed by Rochdale-based CySec Professionals Ltd, provides SMEs in Greater Manchester and beyond with a practical annual service to address digital challenges and seize new opportunities.

Digital Trust Essentials®, specifically designed for SME Owners, draws on UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) small business guidance, along with over 35 years of military and private sector consultancy and training experience.

A Rapidly Changing Business Environment: A Barrier to Growth or Unparalleled Opportunity?

Cybercrime costs UK SMEs over £3.4 billion annually. In Greater Manchester, where digital innovation is accelerating, this risk is amplified. Yet many SMEs still lack basic protections, 32% have no cybersecurity measures, and over half of employees have never received formal training.

However, we need to move beyond a focus on cybersecurity if real opportunity is to be realised. Customer concerns about privacy and transparency are also on the increase and they differ depending on cultural, geographical and generational factors.

Taken together, trust and confidence in digital business is undermined and business growth stalls. Our understanding of changing consumer perceptions and associated behaviours surrounding digital service delivery, globally are evolving. A focus on cybersecurity alone is not going to provide the answer. Research by Thales, shows digital trust is on the decline across all sectors.

Without foundational digital trust building capabilities, even the most innovative organisations and services struggle to gain traction.

Put very simply, customers interact with and buy from businesses/organisations they trust.

Digital Trust Essentials® helps the regions SME Owners, implement, build and maintain customer trust and confidence in their business contributing to increased growth and the achievement of regional ambitions.

Digital Trust Essentials®: A Blueprint-Aligned Solution

Digital Trust Essentials® is designed specifically for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses. It translates national and international cybersecurity standards and guidance into practical, step-by-step actions tailored to small business requirements.

Key features include:

• Monthly expert guidance and structured prompts for action.

• Support for secure access control, device management, backups, awareness raising and incident response capability.  

• Ongoing improvements in governance and resilience, not just one-off audits.

This aligns with GMCA’s call for “secure, interoperable, and trusted systems” and helps SMEs meet customer expectations, protect continuity of service, and demonstrate digital maturity.

Driving Inclusive Growth and Economic Confidence

By adopting Digital Trust Essentials®, Greater Manchester’s SMEs can:

This isn’t just about cybersecurity, it’s about enabling inclusive economic growth, attracting investment, and empowering communities. SMEs are able to build and maintain customer trust and confidence and grow. Large organisations can utilise Digital Trust Essentials® to improve supply chain resilience and a Greater Manchester digital ecosystem based on digital trust.

Organisations register for the Digital Trust Essentials® service can display a recognised badge, signalling their commitment to safe, secure, trustworthy digital practices. In a region striving to be the global benchmark for digital trust, this badge becomes a powerful differentiator.

Making Greater Manchester the Global Leader in Digital

Whether you're a startup in Salford, a retailer in Rochdale, or a tech firm in Trafford, Digital Trust Essentials® helps you build digital trust from the ground up. It’s time for Greater Manchester’s SMBs to lead by example, embedding digital trust into every transaction, partnership, and innovation.

Together, we can make Greater Manchester a safe, secure, and ‘trusted’ place to do business.