IASME Cyber Assurance West Midlands
For West Midlands suppliers and professional firms whose buyers want evidence of a real security management system. Independently audited, mapped to ISO 27001, and issued by an appointed IASME Certification Body on the edge of the conurbation.
Why West Midlands organisations certify beyond the baseline
The region runs on two engines, and both of them generate this requirement. One is business, professional and financial services, around 39,000 firms employing over 330,000 people, the largest concentration outside London and growing fast, with Birmingham recognised by government as one of the UK's established FinTech hubs. The other is manufacturing: Jaguar Land Rover at Solihull and the Black Country engineering and metalwork tiers that feed it and dozens of other primes.
Professional firms get asked because of the data they hold and the regulators behind it. Manufacturers get asked because of flow-down. Both end up at the same place, which is a buyer who wants to see that security is governed rather than just configured, and IASME Cyber Assurance is the proportionate way to evidence that.
What this looks like for a Birmingham professional firm
If you are a law firm, an accountancy practice or a financial services business, you are probably already answering two overlapping sets of questions: your regulator's and your clients'. Cyber Assurance Level 2 includes a GDPR assessment and covers supplier management, incident response and governance, which is most of what a client security questionnaire asks for in one certificate rather than a bespoke answer every time. For a Black Country manufacturer, the same certificate answers the prime's flow-down clause.
Level 1, Level 2, and which one you need
Level 1 is a verified self-assessment reviewed by an assessor. Level 2 adds an independent audit of governance, documentation and controls, includes a GDPR assessment, and is internationally recognised. Clients and primes asking for "ISO 27001 or equivalent" generally mean Level 2. The full breakdown of both levels and the comparison with ISO 27001 are covered separately.
One prerequisite: you must hold valid Cyber Essentials throughout the Cyber Assurance period. If you do not have it yet, we do both.
Doing the work in the West Midlands
We are at Albrighton, which puts Wolverhampton on the doorstep, Birmingham and the Black Country within half an hour, and Coventry and Solihull comfortably inside an hour. Level 1 is completed on the IASME portal and reviewed remotely. Level 2's audit is scheduled around you and can be remote or onsite. Your submission is read by a qualified assessor, never fed into AI.
What we see most often in the West Midlands
- Shop-floor equipment running embedded software the vendor stopped supporting years ago
- Family manufacturing businesses with one shared office computer
- Professional firms in Birmingham holding client data under sector regulation as well
None of these is unusual and none of them is a reason to put the work off. They are simply the things worth checking before you commit to a date. If you want more detail, see how it compares with ISO 27001.
Ready to buy?
IASME Cyber Assurance pricing, in line with IASME’s fee bands. Cyber Essentials certification is a prerequisite and is priced separately. By default we give you access to the IASME portal to complete your assessment yourself. Your submission is reviewed by a qualified, certified assessor, never fed into AI. Need it faster? Add urgent turnaround below. Want us to review your setup against the controls before you apply? That is a gap analysis, quoted separately: ask for one using the contact button under the form. Buy Level 1 now, or request a quote for the audited Level 2.
An appointed IASME Certification Body: your certificate comes directly from us. Verify our credentials on the BlockMark registry, and find us listed on the IASME website.
Common questions
What is IASME Cyber Assurance, in business terms?
An affordable, UK-developed information-security standard from IASME, mapped to ISO 27001 and the Government's 10 Steps. It lets you evidence a real security management system to buyers without the cost of full ISO 27001.
Do we need Cyber Essentials first?
Yes. A valid Cyber Essentials certificate is a prerequisite and must be held throughout the Cyber Assurance period. If you do not have it yet, we do both.
We already answer client security questionnaires. Does this replace them?
Not entirely, but it shortens them considerably. A Level 2 certificate answers most of what a questionnaire asks, and gives you an independent third party standing behind the answer rather than your own say-so.
Does it satisfy our regulator as well as our clients?
It is not a regulatory approval and we would not claim otherwise. What it does is evidence the governance a regulator expects you to be able to demonstrate, which is usually the harder part to show.
We are a small family manufacturer supplying a prime. Is this proportionate?
Yes, that is what IASME was designed for. The standard scales to your size, and a micro business is not assessed as though it were a corporate.
Related
Free, no obligation
Understand your exposure
An attacker’s first move is not an attack, it is a look. So we look first, and send you what we find, worst first.
- Services and ports you did not know were open
- Security misconfigurations on anything public facing
- Known vulnerabilities already indexed by engines like Shodan
- Company credentials sitting in known breach data
The only question is: do you know where and how to look?
We reply within one business day. Prefer to talk first? 01902 288763 or info@solusec.co.uk.
Nothing is touched on your systems. It is all public and already indexed, just scattered. We pull it together, which is what an attacker does first.
Evidence more, win more
Tell us the buyer or tender asking for more than Cyber Essentials. We'll tell you honestly whether Level 1 or Level 2 fits, and get you there without ISO 27001 cost.