The UK Cyber Growth Action Plan, commissioned by Imperial’s Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance (CSEP) and led by Professor Simon Shiu from the University of Bristol, draws on consultation with nearly 100 stakeholders across the cyber ecosystem, including startup founders, technologists, CISOs, researchers, investors, regional leaders, and government representatives.
The UK cyber security sector is expanding rapidly, generating £13.2 billion in revenue, contributing £7.8 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA), and employing an estimated 67,300 people across more than 2,100 companies in 2023-24. Jobs grew by 11% and revenue by 12% over the past year alone.
Cyber security is one of the six priority frontier technologies identified within the Government’s Digital And Technologies Sector Plan – part of its Modern Industrial Strategy, published earlier this year. Following their publication, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology tasked Imperial College London and the University of Bristol with delivering the independent report and setting out a roadmap.
The report highlights the sector remains undervalued, with untapped potential to strengthen UK resilience, fuel innovation and support long-term economic growth. The report emphasises the need for coordinated action between government, industry and civil society to create a ‘virtuous cycle’ where cyber growth drives resilience, and resilience in turn enables innovation and expansion across all sectors.
The UK Cyber Growth Action Plan’s nine key recommendations call for:
- Curating the UK’s cyber culture to drive growth and public participation in cyber skills and innovation.
- Putting leadership in the right places with industry-led national and place-based cyber growth roles.
- Building on the UK’s places of cyber strength to collaborate on sensitive topics, chosen technology areas and make time to create and anticipate cyber futures.
Professor Simon Shiu, Professor of Cybersecurity at the University of Bristol, and leader of the report, said: “The message from across the sector is clear: the UK has the talent, ambition and opportunity to lead in cyber security. We can do this by aligning growth with resilience and making strategic choices that benefit the whole economy.”
Professor Guy Poppy, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Bristol, said: “The UK’s cyber sector is a driver of innovation, resilience and economic growth. This Action Plan provides a timely roadmap, recognising how emerging technologies will shape future challenges and opportunities for stakeholders. It sets out a framework for research, skills and collaboration to turn innovation into growth and nationwide impact. By combining academic excellence with enterprise and policy engagement, we can help build a stronger, more resilient cyber ecosystem.”
Nigel Steward, Director of the Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance at Imperial, said: “The cyber security sector in the UK has significant growth potential, and there are clear roles for both government and the private sector identified within the UK Cyber Growth Action Plan to contribute to tapping into that potential. Supporting the sector isn’t just an economic opportunity, it’s essential for our national security and the resilience of businesses, so we at CSEP are very happy to have been able to produce this independent report in partnership with the University of Bristol to support the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy.”
Professor Rupert Shute, Director of Engagement at the Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance, said: “CSEP’s mission is to boost the performance and competitiveness of our high-growth sectors by working with industry, government and civil society to achieve that outcome. The UK is world-leading in many sectors and Cyber is one of those. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the University of Bristol to support the UK Government and Cyber sector to implement the recommendations in the UK Cyber Growth Action Plan.”
The UK Cyber Growth Action Plan will feed into the refreshed National Cyber Strategy and was laid in Parliament as a Command Paper on Friday, 19 September.
The report provides a roadmap for the UK to reinforce its position as a global leader in cyber resilience and innovation ahead of the Government’s National Cyber Strategy and the Modern Industrial Strategy.