"Policing led - Business focused"
About The Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (ECRC)
The Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (ECRC) is part of the national roll out of Cyber Resilience Centres in the UK which began in 2019.
The ECRC began its journey in November 2020. Led by Policing and facilitated by Business Resilience International Management (BRIM), we have followed a structured modular programme based on a highly successful model that had previously been established for over 9 years in Scotland.
We work in structured partnership with regional Policing, Academia, Businesses, Third and Public Sector organisations through a variety of ways:
Learn more about us
Management Team
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Paul Lopez
Director
Paul was part of the team that established the Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (ECRC) in 2021. Prior to that he had served as a police officer for 30 years rising to the rank of Detective Superintendent. Paul has worked across number of diverse disciplines including Major Crime, Serious and Organised Crime, Counter Corruption, and prior to joining the ECRC, he headed up the Regional Cyber Crime Unit.
Following his retirement as a cop in 2023 Paul returned to the Managing Director role of the ECRC and remains committed to use his experience to support businesses within the Region to help them tackle the growing threat of cyber-crime and improve their levels of cyber resilience.
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Jim Stevenson
Head of Cyber Security and Innovation
Inspector Jim Stevenson brings 21 years of policing experience to the Cyber Resilience Centre. Jim’s background in Neighbourhood Policing means he has spent years working with the police’s partner agencies to tackle long term problems in a variety of community settings.
Jim’s experience has seen him work in a variety of fields from collaborative project work, complex crime investigations, community problem solving and schools’ outreach.
Sapphire Little
Business Development Manager
Sapphire was previously enrolled in the National Cyber Resilience Centre Group's Cyber PATH programme where she helped deliver cyber security services to SME's, charities and schools across England and Wales.
With a degree in Criminology & Sociology and her experience with Cyber PATH, Sapphire is looking forward to helping to promote cyber resilience to local business, charities and schools within our region.
Our Board
Emily Bevan
Community Engagement Lead
Emily came to the ECRC as part of a placement year with Bedfordshire Police. She is currently completing a degree in Geography at the University of Manchester, bringing a new perspective to the centre.
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Emily is looking forward to promoting the messages of the ECRC, with a particular focus on getting out in the community, visiting local areas and travelling to various business events and trade shows. She has also taken a particular interest in writing many of the website blogs which she is doing weekly.
Assistant Chief Constable Simon Parkes was appointed as the head of the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit in 2022.
Simon is a Suffolk officer with his career predominantly within serious and complex investigations, and he is an experienced PIP3 and PIP4 Senior Investigating Officer
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Simon Parkes
Director, T/Assistant Chief Constable, ERSOU
Roger Hirst became the first Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in October 2017 and continues to work nationally and locally to build stronger links between emergency services and help create more secure communities.
His core belief that safe and secure communities are the bedrock on which we build well-being and prosperity for all, remains central to his vision for both the services for which he is now responsible.
Roger Hirst
Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
Mark is the CEO for Cantium Business Solutions. Mark has a wealth of experience in both Private and Public Sectors including Local Government, Health, Education, Manufacturing and Retail. Mark has a valuable combination of leadership, commercial and technology experience delivering exceptional customer service and consistently surpassing targets. Mark excels as a dynamic leader and coach in creating the right environments and culture for partners, teams and individuals to succeed.
Mark Cobb
Cantium Business Solutions
Detective Superintendent Paul Lopez has almost 28 years policing experience with Essex Police and ERSOU. Over the past 5 years Paul has worked across number of diverse disciplines including Serious and Organised Crime, Intelligence and most recently Cyber Crime.
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Paul has recently been appointed as Director of the Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre
Paul Lopez
Director
Nigel is the Chief Operating Officer for the Cyberfort Group and brings more than 20 years’ experience of delivering operational security, as well as serving 23 years in Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force, where he developed his leadership and security skills working within the counter-intelligence and security investigations specialisms.
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Nigel is passionate about structured training and development paths for future cyber security generations.
Nigel Wilkinson
Cyberfort Group
Richard oversees the day-to-day running of ICT services for the East of England Co-op, which comprises 200 locations and 4,000 employees.
He is responsible for the full voice and data infrastructure for the business as well as their multiple IT applications and platforms.
Richard Helliwell
East of England Co-op
Jim Roach is the Chief Information Security Officer at Whitbread.
Jim Roach
Whitbread