Experts join West Midlands' cyber resilience advisory group

Published by

Nicky Godding

The West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre (WMCRC) has announced two new members joining it Advisory Group. Ollie Olver, CEO and Principle Consultant for Hereford-based Cyclopz Group Ltd and Tim Pinnell, Information Security Assurance Manager at certification company NQA.

The group will provide the WMCRC with guidance, advice and influence the direction of the Centre.

The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, which launched in June this year, is part of the national roll out of Cyber Resilience Centres in the UK which began in 2019. It is lead by Policing, and facilitated by Business Resilience International Management (BRIM).

It works in structured partnership with regional Policing, Academia, Businesses, Third and Public Sector organisations.

Ollie has more than 30 years’ experience in the defence, communications and cyber sectors and is passionate about leading and enabling organisations to be safer, more efficient and resilient in digital environments.

He continues to work across the UK and Middle East with organisations from start-ups and small businesses looking for simple guidance, to global companies and governments with complex challenges where there has been a need for fast and effective Digital Cyber Leadership and Management.

Ollie said: “It is an absolute privilege to be invited to be part of the West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre (WMCRC) advisory group. In this global climate of change and with the daily escalating rise in Cyber Crime, it is now even more important that organisations no matter their size, start working towards a proactive cyber resilience.

"To be involved in influencing the direction of the centre with likeminded experts whilst helping regional organisations become safer, more efficient and resilient is a truly exciting opportunity.”

Tim Pinnell has worked in telecommunications cyber and information security for more than twenty years.

Throughout his career he has played a leading role in adopting, consulting and implementing information security compliance standards, including ISO 27001, PCIDSS and Cyber Essentials, helping organisations understand the risks facing their businesses and the controls needed to mitigate them.

Tim said: “I know from my own experience that many of the issues affecting organisations are common up and down the supply chain. Being a member of the WMCRC is a privilege and an opportunity to engage and develop the cyber resilience of businesses in the region. Connecting with organisations, sharing cyber experience and knowledge, is paramount to building a secure and resilient UK PLC.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.