UK data shows 43% of businesses identified a cyber breach/attack in the last 12 months (≈612k firms), with phishing dominant and an average cost of £3,550 for businesses and £8,690 for charities for the most disruptive incident. Cyber security sits with the board, per the NCSC’s 10 Steps and its Toolkit for Boards
A regional real‑estate network faced an unexpected Microsoft licensing audit. Daily use of Microsoft products had grown over time without full visibility of licensing models, historical purchases and rights of use. I provided end‑to‑end support: discovery across offices, reconciliation of deployments vs. entitlements, review of legacy contracts/OEM keys/renewals, a clear compliance report for management, liaison with the audit representatives, and a practical remediation plan with a simplified, cost‑effective licensing approach. Outcome: avoided unnecessary penalties, restored clarity and reduced future admin overhead.
A regional occupational health organisation operating several medical sites struggled with slow systems, unclear costs and minimal visibility. A newly appointed director requested an independent audit with a clear mandate: restore transparency, modernise core services and simplify the daily experience for non‑technical medical staff. The audit exposed systemic issues (heterogeneous workstations, weak processes, legacy infrastructure, under‑optimised inter‑site links, and wasteful contracts). We delivered a structured, phased modernisation plan that improved login times from 10–15 minutes to a few seconds, reduced unnecessary spend, and re‑established governance.
A mid-sized printing company faced recurring network issues and slow interventions due to years of unmanaged cabling: inconsistent labelling, mixed patch standards, and cluttered server racks. Brought in as hands‑on technical reinforcement, I did not replace hardware. I restored order: reorganised racks, re‑labelled core links, standardised patching, removed unsafe/abandoned cables, and documented everything. In one day, engineers (telecoms and systems) could troubleshoot confidently, reduce accidental outage risk, and the management team regained control—without major capital spend, just method, structure, and attention to detail.
