What Blacksmiths Group does

Blacksmiths Group Ltd is a privately held UK security risk consultancy headquartered in Cheltenham, operating globally with documented deployment in West Africa. Founded in 2016, the firm serves both government and commercial clients across four integrated practice areas: Threats, Insider Risk, Cyber, and Security Management. Its core proposition is a holistic security model that treats physical, cyber, and human (insider) security as a single risk surface, delivered through embedded security advisors, bespoke security management programmes, security testing (digital, physical and human), assessments, training, and strategic research.

The firm's technical footprint combines senior practitioner expertise with two proprietary tools: the Integrity Remote Learning Platform, a secure remote training delivery system with interactive exercises and remote mentoring, and the Personnel Security Maturity Assessment Tool, a 33-indicator supply chain personnel security benchmark. Underlying capability rests on a team of former UK government national security and foreign policy professionals, including a behavioural science lead with a 30-year government career and a former head of vetting at the FCDO. Certifications include Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 9001:2015 (UKAS), Cyber Scheme membership, and Security Institute Corporate Partnership.

The business model is pure professional services: bespoke project-based pricing on multi-year contracts, sold through direct enterprise field sales and dedicated service-line email channels. Revenue is generated across consulting and advisory, security testing, training and capability building, and operational and strategic research. Customer mix is anchored by UK government and national security clients, with secondary exposure to commercial enterprises (including global pharmaceutical manufacturers) and a smaller pipeline of funded start-ups and SMBs establishing security practices.

Name

Blacksmiths Group

Legal name

Blacksmiths Group Limited

Website

https://blacksmithsgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Blacksmiths Group Ltd is a privately held UK-based security risk consultancy delivering holistic insider risk, cyber, threat and security management advisory to government and commercial clients worldwide via bespoke multi-year professional services engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cheltenham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Advisory Services: Blacksmiths provides specialist security advisors who can be placed inside client organizations to provide advice at appropriate levels. Services include security management programmes, assessments, training, and research.
2. Security Testing Services: Digital, physical and human tests of security controls using bespoke and novel techniques, including penetration testing.
3. Training and Capability Building: Delivery of workshops, courses and programmes developing security and intelligence skills. Includes tailored training courses created from assessment findings.
4. Operational/Strategic Research: Research into threats, trends, technology or other factors affecting client security risk.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Blacksmiths Group is a full-spectrum security risk consultancy that assesses and manages threats, insider risk, cyber risk, and security management for government and commercial clients. Services are delivered through embedded specialist advisors, bespoke programmes, security testing (digital, physical, human), assessments, training, and strategic/operational research, supported by a proprietary secure remote learning platform and a personnel security maturity assessment tool.

Product overview

Blacksmiths Group is a full-spectrum intelligence, security and cyber consultancy that operates as a services-based firm rather than a software product company. The company offers four core service areas: Threats Services, Insider Services, Cyber Services, and Security Management Services. These services are delivered through six primary methods: Security Advisors (placing experts in client organisations), Security Management Programmes, Security Testing Services, Security Assessments, Security Training, and Strategic and Operational Research. The firm also maintains four practice teams: Intelligence Capability (building intelligence and security capability for governments and companies), Security Management (programmes, training, and assessments), Cyber Security (advisory, assessments, and pen testing), and Business Intelligence (commercial intelligence collection). Additionally, the company has developed a proprietary Integrity Remote Learning Platform for secure remote training delivery and a Personnel Security Maturity Assessment Tool for supply chain security evaluation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Threats Services Assessment and analysis of threat actors, their intent and capability, and evaluation of vulnerabilities and risks facing organisations. Sold to government and commercial clients requiring mission-critical threat understanding.
• Insider Risk Services Management of insider threats, analysis of behaviours and cultures, and implementation of personnel security measures for organisations exposed to malicious or accidental insider risk.
• Cyber Security Services Cyber security services covering operational technology, technical security, and penetration testing for corporate IT, OT, and cloud infrastructure. Sold to enterprise and government clients needing protection of digital and operational technology estates.
• Security Management Services Risk management frameworks, holistic security programmes, and leadership and governance advisory services for organisations seeking integrated security oversight.
• Security Testing Services Digital, physical and human testing of security controls using bespoke and novel techniques, including penetration testing. Sold to organisations needing realistic assurance of security controls across all three domains.
• Security Training Workshops, courses, and programmes developing security and intelligence skills for client personnel. Sold to government teams and commercial organisations seeking to uplift security capability.
• Specialist Security Assessments Innovative methodologies and established frameworks used to assess organisational security capability. Sold to enterprises and governments requiring structured evaluation of their security posture.
• Integrity Remote Learning Platform Innovative secure remote learning platform used to deliver training remotely in a highly secure manner, enabling classroom sessions, interactive learning tools, practical exercises, assessments, remote mentoring and feedback. Sold to clients in highly secure or high-threat environments where traditional classroom training is impractical.
• Personnel Security Maturity Assessment Tool Maturity assessment tool for personnel security in the supply chain comprising thirty-three indicators of good practice. Sold as part of supply chain security evaluation engagements to organisations with complex supplier ecosystems.
• Business Intelligence Services Commercial intelligence collection and assessment for clients requiring timely access to real-world insights. Sold to commercial and government clients needing situational awareness for strategic or operational decisions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Transformed low-baseline government team into high-performing unit with proven track record supporting national security incidents

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Procius LtdminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBlacksmiths engages Procius Ltd for pre-employment checks including Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and BS7858 checks on job applicants. Procius handles vetting and screening as part of Blacksmiths' recruitment process.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Thales: Global defence and security group with a sizeable cyber and digital security consulting business. Comparable in serving government and critical infrastructure clients, but as part of a much larger portfolio.
• BAE Systems (Applied Intelligence): Large UK defence prime with a cyber and intelligence practice serving governments and critical infrastructure. Overlaps with Blacksmiths' government cyber, insider risk and threat intelligence work, but at vastly greater scale and breadth.

Direct peers

• NCC Group: UK-listed cyber security and resilience consultancy offering penetration testing, threat intelligence and managed security services. Comparable to Blacksmiths' cyber and security testing practice serving regulated and government clients.
• Templar Executives: UK cyber security advisory firm providing board-level cyber strategy, training and assurance to government and large enterprises. Comparable niche focus on senior advisory and capability-building engagements similar to Blacksmiths' model.
• Mandiant (Google Cloud): Cyber security consultancy and incident response firm (now part of Google Cloud) providing threat intelligence, pen testing and managed defence. Directly overlaps with Blacksmiths' cyber, threat and security testing services.
• Falanx Cyber: UK cyber security services firm delivering penetration testing, managed detection and consulting to mid-market and enterprise clients. Comparable to Blacksmiths' cyber testing and advisory practice in size and UK focus.
• S-RM: UK-headquartered intelligence and cyber security consultancy serving corporates, governments and high-net-worth clients. Closely comparable in delivering intelligence-led security, cyber and advisory services to a similar client base.
• Control Risks: Global risk consultancy specialising in security, political and integrity risk advisory for corporates and governments. Highly comparable to Blacksmiths in offering bespoke security risk, insider and crisis advisory to enterprise and public-sector clients.
• Bishop Fox: US-based offensive security consultancy offering penetration testing, red teaming and security assessments. Comparable in delivering bespoke, expert-led security testing services to enterprise clients.

Emerging players

• WithSecure (formerly F-Secure): European cyber security vendor offering consulting, managed detection and incident response. Partial overlap with Blacksmiths' cyber advisory and threat services, but with a more product-led delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blacksmiths-group-ltd

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blacksmiths Group