About Us

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i-confidential was founded in 2008 by Colin Fraser and Ian Harragan. They saw an opportunity to use their expertise to create a new cyber security and risk consultancy that would provide trusted advice and support to industry.

Joined soon after by Simon Lawrence, the company quickly built a sound reputation that placed it at the heart of cyber transformation.

i-confidential now employs over 20 permanent staff and 150+ associates who serve a growing list of clients, including some of the UK’s best-known firms.

While based in Edinburgh, our work has extended throughout Europe, India, the US, and Asia.

Our strength has always been our people, and with the goal of setting us up for long-term success, we became employee owned in 2018.

Our focus remains on developing strong relationships with clients to help them deliver effective security through both our consulting and talent acquisition services.

Employee Owned

A key driver for i-confidential becoming employee owned was to help secure its future. It also recognises the fact that our people are our business.

Employees, via an Ownership Trust, now represent a 55% shareholding in i-confidential. Day-to-day management has moved away from the founders and is now in the hands of a senior management team led by our Chief Operating Officer, Louise Beattie.

As an employee-owned business everyone has a voice. Governance and communication is transparent, with decisions on how we shape our strategy discussed company wide. Our two employee-elected trustees, Kathryn Walker and Nicola Huskie, sit on the Trust Board to help ensure this.

Being an employee and an owner is a big responsibility, but it means we all have a stake in i-confidential and can shape a clear vision for our long-term future.

Our current Employee Ownership Trust Board members

Employee Owned

Vision, Mission, Values

Our Vision

By empowering our people to consistently deliver great client outcomes, we want to be recognised as a leading provider of cyber security and risk services.

Our Mission

We will ensure all our clients benefit from the experience and wisdom we have gained working with organisations at the leading edge of security.

We will commit to our people having the skills, knowledge, and support to deliver the effective security clients need.

We will develop strong, lasting relationships with associates, partners, and clients as the foundation for our success together.

Our Values

We treat people with integrity and respect.

We ensure everyone has a voice and a responsibility to use it wisely.

We care about maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

We focus on building trust with the people we work with.

We are not perfect, but we strive for excellence.

Vision-Mission-Values

Meet Our Team

Ian Harragan

Director

Ian’s role is focused upon growing the capability of the Senior Management team to ensure the business can look forward to being well led into the future.

Ian, when not working, enjoys walking in the hills around Peebles, reading a wide range of books and listening to music (mainly from many years ago!!). His aim going forward is to improve his cooking skills.

Simon Lawrence

Director

Simon is our principal consultant and splits his time between client engagements, developing our consultancy offerings, and guiding the management team on all things techy.

Early in his career Simon used to write compilers for Fortran and C on Unix, and if he ever retires his dream is to work on parsers and code generators once again.

Colin Fraser

Director

Colin’s role has included acting as interim CISO and technology leader for some of the UK’s largest financial institutions. He now acts as a consultant supporting our clients, as well as individually advising and mentoring a number of cyber and technology executives.

Colin is also committed to the development of hockey, both locally and at a national level.

Louise Beattie

Chief Operating Officer

Louise joined i-confidential as it was just starting its journey in 2010. Now, as our Chief Operating Officer, she leads the senior management team, ensuring the company delivers on its business strategy, operates effectively, and adheres to its values.

Louise enjoys running anywhere outside and spending time with her family.

Brian Boyd

Head of Technical Delivery

Brian’s role as Head of Technical Delivery means he is involved in all aspects of our consultancy and knowledge-based offerings. He is accountable for all delivery to our clients. Brian is involved in the running of the company and development of new offerings and partnerships.

Brian spends his spare time running his kids to clubs, volunteering in the local community, and coaching youth football.

Katy Fraser

Senior Security Consultant

Katy’s role as a project lead has seen her drive implementation of different projects in a number of large financial services organisations. She is responsible for liaising between technical and business audiences, using her experience and knowledge to broker relationships between the two.

When not working, you will find Katy out and about, either playing sports, meeting with friends, or gardening.

Richard Harragan

Senior Security Consultant

In Richard’s roles as either a specialist consultant or project manager, he delivers many of our offerings to a number of large financial services organisations, ensuring the highest quality output is produced for clients.

Richard loves spending his time exercising and socialising with friends and family. Most of his time, however, is spent chasing after his young son who keeps him on his toes.

Calum Michie

Senior Security Consultant

Calum supports i-confidential's clients to transform their risk and control management frameworks and operating model, enabling them to better understand, manage and reduce their top technology and cyber risks.

Calum spends his spare time with his wife and two teenage children, trying not to fall off his mountain bike, and following Edinburgh Rugby.

Matt Smith

Talent

Acquisition Manager

Matt oversees the day-to-day running of the team's recruitment process. He ensures resource requirements are met while maintaining relationships with clients and candidates. He also engages with associates and maintains contact with cyber security and risk experts in the market.

Matt spends his spare time watching football, playing five-a-sides and walking his Labradoodle, Monty.

Alice Burgoyne

Talent

Acquisition Specialist

Alice assists ongoing resource requirements by sourcing talent, driving the end-to-end recruitment process, and building and maintaining a top-tier network. Alice measures the effectiveness of recruitment efforts, identifies trends, and strives to improve the process.

Alice’s younger years were dedicated to performing arts. While she now uses those skills for under-desk tap dancing, she can still put on a good show.

Lewis Black

Senior Talent

Acquisition Specialist

Lewis handles both contract and permanent resourcing opportunities for our financial services clients. He works closely with them to ensure they receive the skills and service required. Lewis also maintains a strong talent pool of qualified candidates and keeps abreast of the latest updates in cyber security and risk.

Lewis likes to keep fit and healthy, and attends the local gym. He also enjoys watching and playing football.

Lindsey Ramsay

Talent Onboarding Specialist

Lindsey coordinates the onboarding process for all new associates joining the i-confidential team. She makes sure all vetting and reference checks are completed per client requirements and within the required timescales. Lindsey also helps to manage relationships with umbrella and payroll companies for our associates.

Lindsey enjoys spending her spare time with family and friends.

Kelly Esslemont

Talent Acquisition Coordinator

Kelly’s role involves liaising with clients and candidates throughout their contract with us. She ensures contracts and purchase orders are received and coordinates all associate renewals. Kelly handles multiple associate relationships while utilising onboarding and recruitment tools to analyse candidate and client data.

Kelly enjoys whatever spare time she has with her two children, walking, socialising, and spending time with family.

Nicola Huskie

Chief Commercial

Officer

Nicola oversees and manages all commercial aspects of the company’s operation. Her primary focus is business growth, profitability, and maintaining a strong customer base. She has responsibility for the Sales and Account Management team and manages the Talent Acquisition function.

Nicola is a keen DIY enthusiast, so alongside being a mum to two little boys, you will find her working on her next renovation.

Samantha Whalen

Client Account

Manager

Samantha is the primary point of contact for some of our key accounts, focusing on establishing and maintaining client relationships. She collaborates with sales to identify new business opportunities and helps to provide solutions for the challenges our clients face.

As a keen skier and snowboarder, Samantha tries to spend as much time as she can in the mountains.

Stuart McGinn

Head of Marketing

Stuart’s focus is ensuring we share our capabilities and track record with the wider world, demonstrate what sets us apart, and create opportunities for conversations with people who have challenges we can help to address.

Stuart enjoys losing himself in ancient history, going for meandering bike rides (preferably in southern France), and meeting the endless needs of two 'adorable' teenagers.

Chris Harragan

Digital Marketing Lead

& Security Analyst

Chris’s role as a recertification SME includes providing i-confidential’s Access Recert service to large financial services organisations.

He is also responsible for marketing our offerings so they can be used by more companies to improve their security capabilities.

Chris spends his spare time filling up his Kindle with too many books for one man to read in a lifetime.

Kathryn Walker

Business Operations Manager

Kathryn is focused on sustainability and the environment, working to ensure i-confidential is fully compliant with the standards our clients set. Due to the company's size, Kathryn works on everything relating to HR, Compliance, and Finance, amongst others.

Kathryn loves a power ballad! She’s a big Celine Dion fan and has travelled to Paris, London, and Las Vegas to see her.

Chris Greig

Finance Administrator

On a daily basis Chris handles the company’s finances, ensuring all monies and invoices are paid and received in a timely manner. Chris has a strong focus on relationship building and communication with our associates, clients, and third-party companies.

When Chris is not working, he enjoys searching for new and exciting beers to try, and training/coaching Tae Kwon-Do.

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