The cyber security firm targeting the FTSE 500
One of the most exciting US firms in the busy cyber security space chose Gloucestershire to invest some of its $90m of growth cash, its UK boss declaring it a ‘great place to grow your business’.
Happy Valentine’s Day,
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Today’s main story
As we continue our cyber-themed week we publish an interview with Phil Whitby, of Obsidian Security. Those in the cyber sector will already know about Obsidian, but for everyone else we explain why it is such an exciting business to have in Gloucestershire.
And, as we keep being told, the county has the most important cluster of cyber firms in the UK outside of London. Obsidian, a business from the United States of America that would could have gone anywhere to start and grow its UK operations, but chose Cheltenham. We ask why?
The article follows Monday’s interview with Sophie McCall (more of which below) and will be capped with another cyber feature on Friday, reflecting on the sector in Gloucestershire through a feature including Hub8 and CyNam.
Catch up and coming up
💻 In case you missed Monday’s newsletter we flag it again here. This was the interview with Sophia McCall. Who better to hear from to get a glimpse from inside the uber-discreet Gloucestershire world of cyber, one of those sectors working hard to tackle a significant gender imbalance, than a young woman making her way in that very world. McCall’s observations are fascinating and although her career may only be just beginning, her CV to date is already impressive. You can read it here.
🚪 One of Gloucestershire’s biggest housing associations and builders of affordable homes has said the cost of living and the impact on people in the county has been ‘the’ theme of its last financial year. Nevertheless, Two Rivers Housing remains optimistic, revealing it will continue to chase its target of delivering 100 shared ownership homes a year and that a new partnership with Cotswold Oak and David Wilson Homes will see it provide more than 100 new homes before 2026. Two Rivers Housing is part of Raikes’ rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which tracks the fortunes of the county’s biggest firms by turnover. You can read all those stories in our Reports & Deals channel, but only if you are a member!
❤️ It's hard not to get through today, Valentine's Day, without matters of the heart being mentioned. We liked this LinkedIn post especially... a message full of passion - because it could quite literally save someone's life. Okay, we digress slightly from romatic matters, but we're taking the lead from the post by Tidal Training's Clare Seed, the driving force behind Cheltenham’s incredible Public Hearts Defib Campaign. It is a community effort that’s helped install 72 publically accessible defibrillators. And now, together with the charity Cardiac Screening, it’s offering cardiac screening for residents in the St Paul's area. Here's how you can help.
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Our featured charity: Gloucestershire Deaf Association
👏🏽 Today we introduce you to Gloucestershire Deaf Association, our eyes drawn to the Barnwood-based charity this week for two reasons. Firstly, it has just appointed a new chief executive officer, Danielle Neale, and secondly because later this month it teams up with another much-loved charity, the CCP, for a fundraising firewalk and it needs your support – either by donating to its cause, or by joining in the ‘fun’ and taking on the challenge yourself! The Barnwood-based charity’s vision is a society that actively supports ways to break down communication barriers for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, to allow them to live confidently with their deafness. All the services GDA offers, aim to enable a person to live confidently with their deafness. Find out more about the firewalk (February 23 at 6pm) here.
Saluting something incredible
🚣♀️ If you can imagine the trials and tribulations of sailing across the Atlantic, then try to picture rowing the distance on a tiny boat with three others! Laura Langton has just completed the journey and described it like this: “I encountered 20ft waves, unbearable sea sickness, frustrating equipment failure, blistering sunshine and paralysing storms.” Langton, an investment manager with JM Finn, grew up in Winchcombe and lived in Cheltenham until last year. Teammate, Beth Motley, works for Cheltenham PR and marketing firm Counter Context. Liz Watson and Katherine Windsor made the team a four. “Throughout it all, we pulled together, looked for the positives and kept making progress, no matter how minimal,” added Langton. Gloucestershire firms Mira Shower, Counter Context, Ontic and Vitruvius Management Services, DDecks, Gravity Drinks, The Stronghold, James Ford Design, JRD Surveyors, Martins Meats and Oak and Stone Developments all sponsored the epic journey in aid of Prostate Cymru, The Charlie Waller Trust, The Outward Bound Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support. You can too, by clicking here.
The cyber security firm targeting the FTSE 500
By Andrew Merrell
To those ‘in the know’ news that Obsidian Security raised $90 million (£72m) in a series C funding round and has a UK operation fast-growing out of Cheltenham is not ‘new’.
To anyone outside the well-informed sector the start-up’s funding win is possibly unknown, as is the United States of America-headquartered firm’s decision to develop a place in the lucrative UK market from Gloucestershire.
Its target, the UK’s biggest firms – the nation’s FTSE 500 businesses. Its specialism, providing cyber security for those companies that, like much of the rest of us, have embraced apps.
While apps bring incredible technology making our business lives easier, the ramifications of the rush to embrace what has become known as ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) brings a very real, complex security risk for big business. The challenge for these companies - what they should do about that risk - is flashing day and night like a giant red warning light.
Which is where Obsidian Security comes in, together with its ‘premier security solution designed to drastically reduce the attack surface area of SaaS applications by 80 per cent on average”.
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