Our Firsthand Experiences Mean We Can Help Tackle Yours.
At Beyond Blue, we have decades of experience across public and private sector industries. We work with you to achieve the best outcome for you and your business, helping you to build strength and resilience against existing and emerging threats.
Meet the Directors
Decades of experience, numerous awards and knowledge of cyber security, crisis response and resilience in global businesses make our Directors some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry.
Their varied backgrounds are packed full of expertise, making them the perfect group to lead Beyond Blue. Read below to find out a little bit more about them and their past experiences.
David Ferbrache
David is an award-winning UK and international national cyber security expert and the Managing Director of Beyond Blue, with over 30 years of cyber and information security expertise. David has held senior roles as the Head of Cyber and Space for the Ministry of Defence, KPMG’s Global Head of Cyber Future and the Chair of the Scottish National Cyber Resilience Advisory Board guiding the implementation of the country’s cyber resilience strategy.
In recognition of his service to national security following 9/11 he was awarded an OBE, he was named Personality of the Year at the Cyber Security Awards in 2018, European Business Continuity Consultant of the Year in 2022, and Scottish Cyber Leader of the Year in 2025.
David's extensive expertise and leadership continue to shape the UK's approach to cyber resilience and security.
Paul Taylor
Paul has more than 30 years of experience leading some of the UK's most demanding and highly technical national security programmes at the highest government levels. He is distinctly qualified to understand the evolving threat environment, as well as having an exceptional track record of driving and delivering technology change in complex organisations.
In recognition of his contributions to science and technology, Paul was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2013, where he is now the lead Trustee for National Security and Chairs the Enterprise Committee.
Paul was awarded a CBE in 2023 in King Charles III’s first New Year’s Honours list. The citation reads “lately science and technology adviser to the Ministry of Defence; for public service”. Paul was appointed to the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology in January 2025. Paul is a non-executive Director on the Defence Technology and Innovation Board in the Ministry of Defence and a lay member of Council at Loughborough University.
Alongside his role as Chair of Beyond Blue, Paul is currently a Director of Morgan Stanley International PLC and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. He is a member of the Technology Advisory Board to NatWest Group, and Chair of Interrupt Labs Ltd.
Alicia Waite
Alicia is a skilled and accomplished cyber resilience professional specialising in operational resilience, preparing organisations for crisis response and recovery.
Alicia leads Beyond Blue’s operational resilience work, predominantly within financial services, and she has established industry-leading and award-winning scenario testing methodologies with clients. She has also trained and exercised senior leaders in crisis scenarios and advised organisations during cyber crises on effective communication strategies and their approach to operational recovery.
Alicia works with clients to mature their operational resilience beyond just compliance with regulation. She’s focused on initiatives that help clients understand their blind spots, invest in the areas that will make the biggest difference to their overall resilience posture and report the story of an organisation’s resilience journey effectively and concisely to Boards and Regulators.
Carl Hunt
Carl has over 25 years of leadership experience in cybersecurity and telecommunications. He specialises in critical national infrastructure and has previously advised the Cross Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG) and the UK’s Department of Digital Communications, Media and Sport on resilience and failure scenarios with the telecoms sector and their potential impact on the digital economy.
He has significant experience of delivery of large scale cyber transformation programmes for government and telecommunications sectors; and in depth knowledge of providing a breadth of certification and assurance services across defence, government, utilities and telecommunications sectors for both products and services. In addition to Carl has led an engagement for NCSC to co-develop Principles Based Assessment under the Cross Domain Solutions programme.
Advisory Board
To help ensure our services are relevant and forward-thinking, we have a number of external experts on our advisory board. These industry leaders have incredible insights, decades of experience and are on-hand to help, educate and guide us.
Read more about these incredible individuals below.
Gaven is a Professor in Cyber Security at the University of Manchester, a technology advisor, a Non-Executive Director, and an active advocate for online safety. Up until 2023, he was the Director General for Technology and Chief Technology Officer at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). In his seven years as CTO, he was responsible for the research and development of a wide range of critical UK national security capabilities. Whilst there, he held a range of technology leadership roles that invested in cutting-edge technological innovations to support GCHQ's rapidly evolving missions.
Fiona has enjoyed a 30+ year career in security and technology. She has a Computer Sciences degree from Cambridge, and joined the Ministry of Defence fast-stream, spending 10 years in numerous policy, project and technical roles before becoming Director of Science & Technology Policy. She co-founded CrowdVision, an AI-enabled data and insights company, measuring human activity in crowded places and led the business as CEO through its growth journey. She is currently Professor (of Practice) at the University of Lincoln, leading their work on applying AI in defence and security markets, and a NED at Ordnance Survey and Corps Security.
With more than 35 years of experience in IT, networking and cyber security, Phil has worked across numerous sectors with roles in strategy, policy, advisory, operations, design and build. He has held numerous global internal operations and customer-facing leadership roles, transforming, optimising service, improving maturity or leveraging innovation. He was seconded to the London 2012 Olympic programme to run the IP Perimeter security, the transformation and merger of BT’s internal and go-to-market security operations, and the work to help develop and provide cyber data analytics and big data capability into a major Australian retail bank. He has an MBA from Henley Management College, is a Certified Information Security Professional, a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Information Security, and is a Chartered Cyber Security Professional.
Our Core Services
Organisational
Resilience is rapidly rising to the forefront of your organisation’s agenda. Modern business ecosystems are under constant pressure and uncertainty due to geopolitical instability, climate change, cyberattacks, and emerging technologies. Relying solely on preventative controls is no longer sufficient. Disruptions are inevitable; it’s how you respond and recover that's important.
At Beyond Blue, we’re confident we can help strengthen your response and recovery capabilities so you can bounce back faster, stronger and more resilient than ever.
Supply Chain
Organisations are increasingly reliant on complex, interdependent, and highly concentrated supply chains, and may also have been identified as a critical link within their clients' supply chain. As disruption risks grow and become progressively complex, organisations are digging deeper, scrutinising not just their direct suppliers but fourth - and even fifth-tier parties to better understand their resilience and ability to withstand, respond and recover from disruptions.
At Beyond Blue, we help our clients identify and embed robust controls, remediate vulnerabilities, and introduce processes and frameworks to enable them to quickly identify weaker links, monitor their supply chain risks and improve their overall operational resilience.
Ecosystem
Governments and regulators also have a stake in building resilience. Power cuts, airport closures, cyberattacks, and other unexpected shocks are dominating the headlines. The public is facing growing uncertainty and expects action. Beyond Blue can help you build a national platform for resilience, which positions you for success, regardless of sector or jurisdiction.
What’s more, resilience is not just about surviving in today’s world, but also building readiness for tomorrow. We can’t predict the future, but we can help you, whatever your organisation, to look beyond the now and prepare for a resilient future.
Our Beliefs
At Beyond Blue we practice what we preach. Our approach to helping clients is built on our beliefs.
Technology Risk and Cyber Risk cannot be addressed in silos. They rapidly move into broader risk management, incident handling and crisis response. We can help organisations break down these silos and adopt an organisational wide approach to build resilience to these risks.
We pride ourselves on our pragmatism, looking at all issues on a case by case basis, meaning our approach is built on dynamism and adaptability. It's our belief that you and your business will survive, and thrive, if you can cope with tactical threats and anticipate trends strategically.
People will always be at the centre of any successful business. Both the problem and solution can be found in your business culture, and the people who live it on a daily basis. However, the culture has to be one that is passed down and adhered to by senior leadership, with attention paid to emerging and current technology and your processes within your organisation.
A culmination of the above, true resilience requires a pragmatic approach embraced across all levels of an organisation. It’s a long-term investment - one your people must believe in. To achieve this, you need a clear, consistent message about what resilience means for your business, one that is easy to understand and actionable for everyone.
Effective operations must work hand in hand with incident management and be grounded in the context of the business. Understanding the threat landscape is essential, not only at the business or industry level, but also nationally. Every organisation operates within a unique environment, and its threat landscape must reflect its specific circumstances.
Best Place to Work 2025
We are a remote first organisation, who prides itself on being able to access talent from across the UK. We are a small but mighty team who sees our diversity as a key strength. If you're interested in joining the family, keep an eye on LinkedIn for open opportunities.
We love giving back through volunteering and fundraising for great causes.
Want to speak to us?
If you would like to discuss a cyber or resilience problem with a member of the team, then please get in touch however you feel most comfortable. We would love to help you and your business prepare to bounce back stronger.
