Nationwide's supply chain campaign makes its mark with Chipping Norton creative agency

It's great to come across organisations that appreciate the ongoing need to make staff aware of cyber threats. Creative agency, mark-making* is one of these companies. What makes it even more encouraging is that mark-making* is already Cyber Essentials certified, but they are clearly not resting on their laurels!

Founded in 1995, the company is well-respected for its creative output, which is reflected in its impressive client portfolio, primarily, but not exclusively, in the financial sector. It is also a company with strong values and purpose, demonstrated by its B Corp status. Indeed, they are rightly proud of just how well they scored in the Overall Impact assessment with a score of 121.3, exceeding the B Corp benchmark by over 40 points, proving that they really do go the extra mile to ensure that they're using their business as a force for good.

Russ Holt, Head of Production at mark-making*

We caught up with Russ Holt, Head of Production at mark-making*, to find out more about their recent experience of our Cyber PATH service, and we were delighted to find a link with one of our valued National Ambassadors, Nationwide, who are also one of their valued clients. 

One of the reasons Nationwide is engaged in the National Ambassador programme is to derisk their SME supply chain. Working in collaboration with NCRCG and IASME, Nationwide recently ran a campaign to encourage companies in their supply chain to become Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials+ certified. They were also offering funding support to their supply chain partners who wanted to explore certification. mark-making* was already Cyber Essentials certified, but that didn't deter them from taking free membership of their regional Cyber Resilience Centre, as highlighted in the Nationwide campaign. As a result, they joined the South East Cyber Resilience Centre.

After joining, Russ had an introduction call with Patrick Milford, a Police Detective Superintendent and Director of the South East CRC, to find out more about the services and support available to SMEs through the centre.

Russ was quick to identify a service that is crucial to all businesses, Staff Awareness Training. Regardless of their Cyber Essentials certification, Russ accepts the need to make staff aware of the ever-changing cyber-threats and scams. The training was then provided in person at the mark-making* premises, led by Savva Pistolas, and the whole team appreciated the presentation style and the real-life examples used to demonstrate the topics.

Speaking about the Cyber PATH training experience, Russ Holt said: "The training was highly beneficial to all of the team; indeed, it was a real awakening to hear some of the facts and examples of the threats faced by SMEs daily.

"Even though we are Cyber Essentials certified, Nationwide's campaign prompted us to join the South East Cyber Resilience Centre, because they can offer ongoing guidance, support and relevant up-to-date threat intel.

"It also made perfect sense to us that cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility. Therefore, we have a duty to ensure that all of the team knows the threats. So, opting to accept the Staff Awareness Training offered by Patrick at the South East CRC was an easy decision.

"All in all, it was a very worthwhile exercise, and we will certainly be looking at some of the other Cyber PATH services to bolster our cyber resilience in the future."

Patrick Milford, Director at SECRC

Patrick Milford also commented: "It's great to see companies adopt a continuous learning approach to cyber. mark-making* sets an excellent example for others; even though they already have Cyber Essentials certification, they appreciate the need to continually inform and make their staff aware of the threats.

"It's also great to see that Nationwide's national supply chain campaign is working and, as a result, SMEs are becoming more resilient."