Empowering People. Protecting Businesses. Shaping a Safer Digital Future.
At Hixon Group, we see first-hand the damage cybercrime causes to local businesses. It is not just about stolen money or disrupted IT systems. Every attack has a knock-on effect across Staffordshire’s economy. Lost revenue, reputational damage & recovery costs, they all weaken business confidence and resilience.
With 38,000 businesses in the county and almost half reporting a cyber incident in the past year, this is no longer a niche concern. It is one of the most pressing economic challenges facing our region.
That is why we created a solution that goes beyond technology. Cyber security is not just about firewalls and antivirus software. People are the first line of defence, and training them properly is one of the most powerful ways to reduce risk.
Our mission is simple: to reduce the overall cost of cybercrime in Staffordshire by giving every employee the knowledge and confidence to act.
Uniting business, academia and the community
We knew from the start that we could not do this alone. Real change requires collective effort. That is why we partnered with two of Staffordshire’s most trusted organisations:
- Keele Business School – bringing academic expertise, independent research, and measurement of cybercrime’s true economic cost. Keele is helping us track impact and design interventions that work at scale.
- Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce – giving the programme reach across the business community and ensuring it supports organisations of every size and sector.
Together, we are creating a sustainable approach to cyber awareness that is accessible, impactful, and rooted in local need.
Business focused cyber awareness training without the price tag or the technical jargon.
The new online platform addresses the two barriers that have held SMEs back from cyber security training: cost and accessibility.
- Free for every employee – no subscriptions or licence fees.
- Accessible on any device – mobile, tablet, or desktop.
- Certificated and practical – giving employees confidence and employers assurance.
This is training designed to fit into busy working lives, without jargon or unnecessary complexity.
Early results and ambitious goals
Since launching in August 2025, more than 560 employees have already completed the course. Feedback shows they feel more confident spotting phishing emails, creating stronger passwords, and reporting suspicious activity.
The goal is 5,000 completions by the end of the year. Every person trained is one less easy target for cybercriminals, and one more step towards building Staffordshire’s resilience.
Stronger together: Building a Digital Fortress for Staffordshire
This initiative is about more than compliance. It is about creating a culture of security and resilience across the region.
As Chris Plant from Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce put it:
“Just one cyber attack can have devastating consequences. Giving employees practical, easy-to-access training helps them take action before problems arise.”
And as Dr Colin Rigby from Keele Business School highlighted:
“By making training freely available, we are strengthening the digital resilience of Staffordshire as a whole.”
By working together – academia, business, and industry – we can build what we call a Digital Fortress for Staffordshire.
Get Free Cyber Awareness Training
Cybercrime is evolving, but so can we. This collaboration shows what is possible when organisations put people at the centre of cyber security. Now we need businesses across Staffordshire to take advantage of it.
