Changing the face of cyber
Those trying to change perceptions of cyber to show women can thrive in the sector too need look no further for a role model than Sophia McCall - but they will have to catch her first!
Good afternoon,
We hope you had a great weekend - and your Monday has gone well. Welcome to the first edition of The Raikes Journal this week. Those who have been following us so far will know we are starting to lay down the footprint for three email editions a week. All of them currently free.
In time we will move to pay-walling the main articles on the last two newsletters of the week as we seek to build a model which can sustain our community interest company, help us establish an editorially-led platform serving Gloucestershire, creating and celebrating community through a renaissance in quality journalism.
If you become a paying member of Raikes you will be able to help guide our direction and make sure we continue to write about what is interesting to you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy what we do - and that you have a great week!
If you think you have a story for us, or any comment to make, please do get in touch!
Today’s main story
Raikes has promised to download all it can about our county’s cyber sector, and this week it becomes something of a theme. From the headline-grabbing Golden Valley Development to the many companies already doing incredible things here in the county the sector is exciting - and shrouded in more than a little mystery.
Later this week we will revisit an interview we did when Raikes first started, back in 2020 as the county and the nation was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. While some sectors suffered and fell our rush to embrace online seems only to underline the significance of cyber, further boosting its fortunes. We spoke to Hub8 and CyNam about what it meant for the county.
But there is much more to the sector than just growth, an umbilical attachment to GCHQ, unwavering discretion, and investment - there is its people for a start, and Raikes plans to turn its spotlight on some of those. In a sector which, like many others, is top-heavy with men (and making great efforts to recruit more women) - where better to start than one of its youngest, brightest, female recruits.
Before we get to that, we flag one of our favourite stories from last week, in case you missed it, and hope you enjoy our usual selection of notes on some of the best and most interesting posts and news we’ve spotted in the last few days, our weekly introduction to one of the county’s charities - and mention a whole host of seminars on offer for businesses from leading law firm Willans.
Catch up and coming up
🪚👑 Last week, National Apprenticeship Week, Raikes took a good look at the incredible win by Tombs Developments’ carpentry apprentice Amy Brown in the National Apprentice Awards - celebrating her triumph and taking a deeper dive into what the story says about where we are with training and recruitment of women in construction, and what factors need to be in place to make the alchemy happen. In Brown’s case there was no little talent, but her story highlights the special work being done by Gloucestershire College to make sure that when the planets do align, the support is there. You can read the article here.
💻 We are sure CyNam doesn’t really need our help to fill this position, but as we’ve already declared something of a cyber-themed week we couldn’t resist flagging this opportunity at the county cyber networking group. CyNam, which is headquartered at the Brewery Quarter’s Hub8 workspace, is after a new general manager. You’ll split your time between its headquarters and its second centre, at the Cheltenham campus of Gloucestershire College. Salary is £50,000 - £55,000 per annum. Find out more here.
🪄 🧙🏽♀️And in more cyber-related news! Cheltenham Chamber of Trade is lending its weight to an event by WiTCH (the Women in Tech and Cyber Hub) to celebrate International Women’s Day, on March 8 from 8.30am to 1.30pm at Leonardo Hotel. Speakers will include Holly Foxcroft, a cyber and diversity champion, and Lindsey Young, ceo of Gloucestershire construction firm Clarkson Evans. Illyana Mullins, founder of WiTCH, cyber community lead for techSPARK and director of Tech Forward Ltd, will also chat to a panel of industry names. Tickets are free. You can find out more here, along with news of a networking event later this month.
🎉 And news is out on this too... something of a must-attend for the business community. We are talking about GFirst LEP's annual review, the final event for the local enterprise partnership before it moves under the wing of Gloucestershire County Council. Expect the powerful business group to look back over the achievements of the last 12 years and spell out how it will operate going forward. Due to take place at the University of Gloucestershire’s School of Business and Technology, Oxstalls, on Tuesday March 12 from 4.30pm. Find out more here.
To help make our community interest company sustainable and fund this new way of providing quality journalism supporting the county we rely on the generosity of our partners, but also on paid-for subscriptions and ‘founding member’ contributions - rather than clickbait. So if have not already, please consider joining those ranks. It costs just £2.30 a week or 33p a day if you pay for 12 months up front (£120), or £12 per month. The benefits include access to two extra newsletters a week (we will soon paywall our second and third newsletters), as well as access to our archive (which will paywall after two weeks) and our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series in our Reports & Deals channel. Groups of two or more subscribers get a 25 per cent discount. Contact andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.
Our featured charity. Emily’s Gift
Today we take a few words to introduce you to Emily’s Gift. Like many charities raising money for good causes related to children, in this case one’s battling cancer, the roots of its story were born from indescribable loss and then a deep emotional reaction to try to help anyone else set to travel the same path. Those of you who have seen the inspirational Julie Kent MBE at work will have seen the mother of Emily. Kent launched the appeal under the umbrella of the mighty Pied Piper Charity, to raise £500,000 to fund a psychologist on the Emily Kent Unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for 10 years. Paul Markey, of Markey Group, is one of many determined to help achieve the target. Bernard Kent, Emily’s father, was a long-term employee of the Markey Group. For Paul, this is personal. You can help him help Emily’s Gift here. And you are also invited to Gloucester Brewery’s Warehouse 4 at the Docks for a special party and update on Emily’s Gift on March 10 from 3pm to 5pm.
Opportunity: Equality, diversity and workplace culture
As we move deeper into 2024 many are looking to invest in training to ensure their business can be the very best it can be through the year ahead. Experts at Cheltenham-headquartered Willans LLP solicitors are offering a variety of seminars suitable for a wide range of industries and organisations. From handling grievance and conflict management, running disciplinary procedures, complying with GDPR, equality, diversity & workplace culture, combatting discrimination in the workplace, the Bribery Act (2010), and more. Some of these are one-hour courses, some half-day sessions. You can take your pick. Find out more here.
Changing the face of cyber
By Andrew Merrell
If the cyber sector is looking for a role model to prove there is room for women to not just work but develop rewarding careers and be themselves, then they could always turn the spotlight on Sophia McCall.
Way back before she was on the radar of anyone in Cheltenham the then student was winning the SC Award for Cyber Security Student of the Year 2020 and being interviewed about becoming a ‘successful young women in the industry’.
The recognition followed her captaining Team UK at the European Cyber Security Challenge 2019; her willingness to embrace the human side of her chosen profession, where online meets people, already becoming apparent.
Then in 2021 digital magazine IT Security Guru named her one of its Most Inspiring Women in Cyber, an award which 'aims to shed light on the remarkable women in our industry'.
By then McCall has already graduated with her cyber degree from Bournemouth, and was beginning to forge a modest profile along with her friend, Sarah, through their blog, Security Queens. And she had moved to Cheltenham to work for NCC Group.
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