Let me hack you
over a cuppa.

My Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering studies gave me a foundation in analysing complex systems and testing assumptions. Winning the TARGETjobs Construction and Engineering Undergraduate of the Year award led to a placement with Laing O’Rourke at Manchester Airport.

Working across engineering disciplines showed me that a useful solution has to fit the people, processes and practical constraints around it. That is still where I start with a consulting brief.

At the Home Office, I analysed datasets containing more than 100,000 records and produced impact assessments, policy and process documentation to support legislative change.

The experience taught me to turn complex evidence into clear recommendations, and to think carefully about how a decision affects the people who have to put it into practice.

Following the CyberFirst programme, I moved into proactive threat hunting at Rolls Royce. I investigated signs of compromise, developed investigative tools and worked with security operations and intelligence teams.

That investigative grounding helps me look beyond a checklist: understand what an attacker could do, identify the evidence and explain which weaknesses deserve attention first.

At Aldermore, I helped migrate security monitoring to Microsoft Sentinel, integrated threat intelligence and developed detection content for financial services threats.

This developed my approach to integrations: connect the right information, reduce gaps between tools and make the result useful to the team relying on it.

At AstraZeneca, I built Python tooling, integrations and an internal file forensics platform to improve investigation and response workflows. I also led shifts of five people as the person on point.

Building for colleagues doing the work reinforced a practical lesson: automation should remove repetitive effort, make information easier to use and support human judgement.

As Head of Cyber Security, reporting to the CTO, I built an information security management system from scratch and implemented technical controls across the organisation. My remit included incident response, supplier relationships, procurement and advising senior stakeholders.

I helped automate Azure recovery using ARM and Bicep, and a change of security operations provider saved £75,000. In 2024, I received a CSO30 UK award, ranked 16th among UK CISOs. This is the experience I bring to consulting: connect sound engineering to recovery, proportionate investment and decisions the business can act on.

Oxford graduate studies in Software and System Security build on my experience of security operations, engineering and leadership.

I bring that combination to consulting by questioning assumptions, looking at the wider system and explaining the tradeoffs behind a recommendation.

My earlier cyber resilience work was highly commended at techUK’s Cyber Innovation Den 2025, where ten innovators pitched their ideas to an industry panel.

Presenting a technical idea to that audience sharpened how I explain the problem, the value of the proposed solution and what still needs to be proved. Those questions matter just as much when scoping a client project.

As an ERA Foundation Enterprise Fellow with the Royal Academy of Engineering, I am developing the commercial judgement that turns an engineering idea into something customers can use and value.

The fellowship brings customer discovery, mentoring and business development alongside technical work. My wider Academy connections began with an Engineering Leaders Scholarship and have included the opportunity to meet HRH The Princess Royal.

Joining the UK cyber security trade mission to RSA Conference in San Francisco gave me the opportunity to discuss security challenges with an international audience of technology and business leaders.

Those conversations reinforce how I approach consultancy: listen to the operational problem first, test whether a proposed solution is useful and make its value clear.

I contribute to security leadership and business through industry speaking, panel discussions and writing. From CSO events to the London Blockchain Conference, I share practical perspectives on security, emerging technology and the decisions facing business leaders.

My CSO Online article, “Innovation without exposure”, explores how security leaders can enable innovation while improving resilience and reducing repetitive work. It reflects my consulting approach: make security useful to the business and measure the outcome.

Building CSS Labs and now CordonGrid has brought together engineering, cyber security and the day to day realities of running a business: understanding customers, choosing priorities and making limited resources count.

I now work directly with businesses on custom software, automation, cyber security and incident response. We start with the problem, agree what a useful result looks like and shape the work around your team.