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Earlier this year, we asked the clients of consultants – from manufacturers to financial services, from local to central government – what mattered most to them. Alongside cost concerns, one big priority stood out: cyber threats and data protection. It is no wonder. Cyber offences now account for almost half of recorded crimes, while clients report that fears over security are holding back many from deploying AI.
 
The message is clear: insecurity doesn’t just create risk, it supresses growth. Organisations that lack confidence in their ability to protect their systems, data and infrastructure are less likely to invest, innovate and scale.
 
One of the lessons from recent years is that security can no longer be treated as a secondary concern or separate from the wider business function. Whether the issue is cybercrime, critical infrastructure, data security or artificial intelligence, resilience is now a boardroom priority because organisations cannot invest and grow without confidence in their ability to manage risk.
 
Businesses and public bodies increasingly need expertise that combines technology, operational delivery, risk management and deep sector knowledge. As a result, consulting firms have become embedded in some of the UK’s most complex security and resilience challenges, from modernising border systems and protecting critical infrastructure to strengthening cyber defences and supporting defence transformation.
  
The impact of this work is often unseen. Success is measured not by headlines, but by crises avoided, systems kept running and institutions continuing to operate effectively. Yet its importance is difficult to overstate. That is reflected in this year’s MCA Awards, where a number of finalists have played a key role in boosting cyber resilience, protecting the public and enhancing national security. Not only has such work helped keep society and the economy safe; it has also helped to enable growth.

One such finalist is PwC, which worked with the City of London Police to redesign the way fraud and cybercrime are reported. The new service reduced abandoned calls from 34% to just 5%, helping more victims come forward and more intelligence reach investigators. Improving the reporting process is an important part of tackling one of the UK’s most pervasive forms of crime. It is also an enabler of growth: trust in the digital economy is vital if consumers and businesses are going to embrace new technologies and buy and sell with confidence.
 
In another category, BAE Systems Digital Intelligence partnered with the Home Office to replace the UK’s border security system, which dated back to 1995. The new platform – delivered while operations were ongoing, without interruption – now supports more than 130 million journeys into the UK each year, providing a more secure and resilient border. That matters to the economy as well as to national security: the safe and efficient movement of goods, people and capital is essential to trade and investment.
 
Another finalist, KPMG, worked with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on a government-wide cyber action plan. Its reach extends across central
government, the NHS and more than 250 arm’s-length bodies, influencing how the public sector approaches cyber resilience and helping to guide £1 billion of cyber investment in 2025/26. The impact of this work stretches far beyond the public sector. Cyber-attacks that disrupt the state can have a huge knock-on effect across the private sector, since a secure and well-functioning state is vital to economic activity and growth.

However, the economic consequences of insecurity are not confined to cyberspace. Physical threats can be just as disruptive. The impact on airports, shipping and infrastructure linked to the conflict in the Middle East have shown how quickly physical risks can become economic ones.

The fact is that, today, physical and digital security risks cannot be treated in isolation. Recent discussions between MCA members and former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson, and with former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt, have highlighted the extent to which they are intertwined. The resilience of the UK economy therefore depends not only on secure digital systems but also resilient supply chains, energy networks, transport, and the ability to respond to emerging threats.

Yet building that resilience requires capability, and capability requires investment.

Earlier this year, the MCA warned that prolonged uncertainty around defence spending and procurement pipelines was making investment decisions more difficult for some firms. Specialist teams can be assembled quickly, but sustaining and expanding capability requires confidence in long-term demand.
 
Firms need confidence to continue investing in highly specialised skills, technology, and capacity. While the publication of the Defence Investment Plan is welcome, greater clarity over priorities and implementation will be essential if the ambitions of the Strategic Defence Review are to be realised.
 
The UK has developed significant strengths in cyber security, defence transformation, and resilience. The challenge now is ensuring that decisions are made quickly enough for those capabilities to translate into stronger security, greater investment and sustained economic growth.

For further information, please go www.mca.org.uk/mca-awards