Gareth Lockwood, Chief Product Officer, talks through his experiences from BT’s SMB event.
Recently, I had the privilege of joining BT as they brought together small and mid-sized businesses from across the UK to tackle one of the most pressing issues facing them today: cyber resilience in a world where attacks never sleep.
After Dr Chris Sims set the scene and Tris Morgan, Managing Director of BT Security, laid out why cybersecurity needs move to the top of SMB’s “to-do” list, the real work began with a eye-opening workshop. During this session, leaders shared their frustrations, fears and some harsh realities about staying secure on limited budgets and bandwidth.
These weren’t theoretical discussions. They were an unfiltered view of what’s happening right now on the front line of UK business, and resulted in every attendee crafting an action plan to wrap up what was an incredibly valuable day.
Hearing first-hand the experiences of UK SMBs was eye-opening. Many delegates shared their rising concerns about escalating cyber-attacks, the complexity of modern threats, and the limited internal resources available to stay ahead. It was clear that UK SMBs are increasingly in the crosshairs of cybercriminals, and the stakes are higher than ever.
BT’s latest report curates data from a recent survey of 1,000 SMB’s along with insights from the Government cyber security breaches survey, plus BT’s own ‘Cyber Agile’ report. The conclusion puts these threats into stark perspective. Some of the key takeways include:
TrustLayer’s own 2025 research paints a similarly sobering picture. The average UK business now contends with 875 security alerts every single day – a 34% increase since 2022, while cybersecurity budgets fell by almost 17% in the same period.
And when the cost of an incident can account for more than half an SMB’s profits – not to mention operational downtime, lost productivity, data recovery expenses, reputational damage, and potential regulatory fines, these statistics stop being abstract.
As Tris put it perfectly: “It’s not just an inconvenience, but an existential threat.”
It’s easy to focus on cybersecurity as digital issue, but when faced with the people it impacts every day, one thing was made clear: The challenges aren’t just technical, they’re human. Almost half of cyber professionals now fear missing an alert that could let an attack slip through, and 34% report sleep deprivation because of cybersecurity concerns.
For smaller organisations with lean teams, the combination of relentless attacks and limited resources creates a perfect storm. And it’s taking a toll not only on security but on morale, confidence and growth.
Everything in BT’s report resonates with our experience—and we share their mission to help businesses grow and prosper in the face of evolving threats. As a security partner for BT, we’re proud to be working together to bring clarity, stronger protection and confidence to UK SMBs.
Together, we’re not just providing products. We’re helping to build lasting resilience and a long-term commitment to making cyber security accessible and effective for the SMB market.
It was already encouraging to see a shift in just one morning. The improvements from the pre-workshop poll to the closing sentiment were material, and while the threat landscape will continue to evolve, so will our collaboration with BT.
With joint initiatives, intuitive technology and a shared focus on empowering businesses, we’re determined to help organisations stay safe, thrive and grow with confidence.
We’re excited about what’s ahead, and we’ll be sharing more soon about how our partnership with BT makes a real impact on the ground.
