PlanB Consulting
PlanB Consulting is a UK-based business continuity, crisis management, and cyber incident response consultancy serving enterprise and public-sector clients across the UK and UAE, with proprietary training technology and multi-year exercise programmes.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersPaisley, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What PlanB Consulting does
PlanB Consulting (legal entity Via-K Ltd.) is a UK-based specialist business continuity, crisis management, and cyber incident response consultancy founded in 2007 in Glasgow by Charlie and Kim Maclean-Bristol. The firm serves enterprise and public-sector clients across the UK and the UAE, with offices in Glasgow (Baltic Chambers) and London, and a Dubai operation. Core service lines include business continuity consultancy, crisis management and communications, ISO 22301 certification support, exercising (from desktop tabletops through SIMEX simulations), cyber incident management, auditing, operational resilience development aligned to FCA/PRA expectations, and training. The company pairs its professional services with proprietary technology, most notably MITS (Media Incident Training Simulator), an award-winning social media crisis simulator, and acts as a reseller for Castellan and Riskonnect business continuity software.
Revenue is generated primarily through fee-based consultancy engagements, project-based training, multi-year exercise programmes, and software resale, with services delivered on-site at client locations across the UK and overseas. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; the firm posts a £35k-£45k salary band for Business Resilience Consultants, indicative of its staffing model. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales, complemented by thought leadership, a knowledge-zone content engine, industry events, and channel partnerships with BC Training, F24, Closed Door Security, and Glasgow Caledonian University.
PlanB is a privately held, founder-led firm that was acquired by Databarracks in May 2024, joining as a subsidiary to form an integrated Operational Resilience and Cyber Resilience group. The firm holds ISO 22301 (since 2013), ISO 9001, and Cyber Essentials certifications, and is one of only eight UK organisations designated as an NCSC Assured Cyber Incident Exercising Provider. The team numbers in the 11-50 range, anchored by a heavily credentialed leadership group (FBCI, FEPS, MBCI) with multiple BCI and CIR award wins.
PlanB Consulting firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PlanB Consulting
- Legal name
- Via-K Ltd.
- Website
- https://planbconsulting.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- PlanB Consulting is a UK-based business continuity, crisis management, and cyber incident response consultancy serving enterprise and public-sector clients across the UK and UAE, with proprietary training technology and multi-year exercise programmes.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PlanB Consulting industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Business Continuity Consulting
- NAICS
- Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Business Continuity Planning & Program Management (BCP) (BPAEALAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) Planning (BPABANAB), Backup, Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity (BCDR) Services (BPAEABAH)
Keywords
Where PlanB Consulting is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paisley
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
PlanB Consulting business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Consultancy Services: Core consultancy services including Business Continuity consulting, Crisis Management, Cyber Incident Response, ISO 22301 Certification support, Operational Resilience development, Auditing, and Gap Analysis. Delivered by senior consultants on-site at client locations.
- Training Services: Business continuity training courses including BCI licensed training, cyber briefings for senior managers, incident management training, Loggist training, e-learning and video training, mentoring and team development. Offered through partnership with BC Training.
- Exercising Services: Business continuity exercises including tabletop exercises, simulated exercises (SIMEX), command post exercises, live exercises, cyber exercises, crisis management exercises, and national emergency exercises. Includes team performance assessments.
- Software Resale: Resale of Castellan and Riskonnect business continuity software products as a reseller partner.
- Special Projects: Customised training or exercise solutions tailored to specific client needs including Cyber Incident Management Course, Liaison Officer Course, Incident Team Debrief, Wargames Exercises, Train The Trainer, and Penetration Testing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Business Resilience Consultant Salary |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
PlanB Consulting product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PlanB Consulting is a specialist business continuity, crisis management, cyber incident response, and ISO 22301 certification consultancy delivering auditing, consultancy, training, exercising, and technology solutions to enterprise and public sector clients. The firm provides end-to-end BC lifecycle support including plan development, gap analysis, certification, operational resilience programmes, and a proprietary social media crisis training simulator (MITS), while reselling Castellan and Riskonnect BC software.
Product overview
PlanB Consulting is a business continuity and crisis management consultancy offering a portfolio of services and technology products. Core offerings include Business Continuity Consultancy, Crisis Management & Communications, ISO 22301 Certification Services, Business Continuity Exercising, Cyber Incident Management, Auditing Services, and Operational Resilience Development. The company also offers technology products including MITS (Media Incident Training Simulator), and resells Castellan and Riskonnect business continuity software. Supporting services include training courses and special/bespoke projects. The consultancy provides end-to-end business continuity solutions from plan development through to certification and ongoing exercise support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- MITS: Media Incident Training Simulator - PlanB Consulting's award-winning Social Media Simulator for training organizations to respond to media and social media incidents.
Products and services
- Business Continuity Consultancy Full business continuity lifecycle consulting for organisations, including plan development, BCMS implementation, business continuity as a service, and ongoing support, targeting enterprise and public sector clients.
- Crisis Management & Communications Crisis management training, exercises, plan development, crisis communication, reputation management, and crisis strategy development for organisations needing to respond to disruptive events.
- ISO 22301 Certification Services Consultancy to help organisations achieve ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management System certification, including gap analysis, internal audits, BIA, BC Operations Manual development, and certification preparation.
- Business Continuity Exercising Range of exercise services from simple desktop exercises to complex SIMEX simulated exercises, workshops, command post exercises, live exercises, cyber exercises, crisis management exercises, and team performance assessments.
- Cyber Incident Management Cyber incident management training, exercises, gap analysis, playbook development, incident communication, reputation management, and strategy development, delivered by an NCSC Assured Cyber Incident Exercising Provider.
- MITS (Media Incident Training Simulator) Award-winning proprietary social media training platform that simulates media and social media channels during crisis scenarios, allowing users to practise incident response.
- Castellan Business Continuity Software Web-based business continuity software that automates programmes and drives improvement, resold by PlanB Consulting as a Castellan reseller partner.
- Riskonnect Business Continuity Software Web-based business continuity software with a simple user interface and on-screen guides, resold by PlanB Consulting as a Riskonnect partner.
- Auditing Services Business continuity auditing services including gap analysis, capability audits, cyber gap analysis, ISO 22301 internal audits, and maturity assessments.
- Operational Resilience Development Services to help organisations meet FCA and PRA Operational Resilience requirements, including identifying business services, mapping resources, setting impact tolerances, and scenario testing.
- Business Continuity Training
- Special Projects Bespoke training and exercise solutions tailored to specific client needs, including Cyber Incident Management courses, Liaison Officer training, Incident Team Debrief, Wargames Exercises, Train the Trainer, and Penetration Testing.
- Ongoing Support for Exercise Programmes Multi-year (3-5 year) exercise programme support including tabletop exercises, simulated exercises, cyber exercises, and crisis management exercises with post-exercise reporting.
Quantifiable outcome
- Successfully helped global law firm achieve ISO 22301 certification for London office
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use PlanB Consulting
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments12 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
PlanB Consulting technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
PlanB Consulting partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- DatabarracksflagshipDatabarracks, a technology and business resilience specialist, acquired Glasgow-based PlanB Consulting in May 2024 to enhance its Operational Resilience and Cyber Continuity consulting practice. PlanB joins as a subsidiary, bringing almost two decades of business continuity and resilience expertise. The acquisition creates a market-leading Data Protection, Technology Recovery, Business Continuity and Cyber Resilience business offering in one.
- Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU)coreLong-established relationship through GCU's undergraduate and postgraduate risk management programmes. PlanB provides guest lectures, seminars, and employs graduates from both programmes. PlanB sponsors awards for best Business Continuity student at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Collaboration on research and projects combining academic expertise with practical consulting skills.
- BC TrainingcoreBC-Training is PlanB's 'sister' company delivering business continuity training courses. PlanB directors are approved BCI instructors who regularly work with BC Training to provide BCI approved training including CBCI certification courses.
- Closed Door SecurityminorClosed Door Security provides comprehensive penetration testing services. PlanB partnered with them to conduct building penetration tests for ISO27001 audits for clients. Example: penetration test for large high-tech manufacturing company.
- RiskonnectminorRiskonnect is web-based Business Continuity software. PlanB is a reseller of Riskonnect software which combines simple user interface with on-screen guides for business continuity planning.
- CastellanminorPlanB partnered with Castellan to be a reseller of their Castellan software, described as 'the best business continuity software product on the market'.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
PlanB Consulting competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Fusion Risk Management: Operational resilience and business continuity software platform; competes with PlanB indirectly by enabling in-house BC programme management that reduces reliance on external consultancies.
- Riskonnect: Integrated risk management and business continuity software vendor, whose platform PlanB resells. Competes indirectly by allowing clients to bring BC programme management in-house.
- Castellan Solutions: Business continuity software vendor whose platform PlanB resells. They are an ecosystem partner and partial competitor as their SaaS increasingly embeds consulting-style methodology that competes with pure consultancies.
Broad incumbents
- Control Risks: Global risk consultancy with a strong crisis management and resilience practice serving multinational enterprises. Overlaps with PlanB on crisis exercising and cyber incident response, but with broader geopolitical and security advisory scope.
- Databarracks: UK-based technology and business resilience specialist that acquired PlanB in May 2024 — PlanB's parent company, offering Data Protection, DRaaS, and Cloud Backup services that complement PlanB's consulting practice.
- KPMG UK — Risk & Resilience: Big-4 advisory firm with a UK Operational Resilience and Business Continuity practice serving large enterprise and regulated clients — competes for the same FCA/PRA-mandated mandates but at much larger scale.
Direct peers
- F24: Europe's leading SaaS provider for incident and crisis management, emergency notification, and business messaging — PlanB's technology integration partner and partial competitor for crisis-management software-led delivery.
- Regester Larkin (SEC Newgate): Specialist crisis management and resilience consultancy within SEC Newgate, focused on crisis communications, exercising, and reputation management — directly comparable to PlanB's crisis management and exercising services.
- Avalution Consulting: US-headquartered business continuity and resilience consultancy offering BCMS implementation, exercising, and ISO 22301 services to enterprise clients — a near-direct competitor to PlanB's core services with comparable niche positioning.
Others
- Business Continuity Institute (BCI): Global professional body for business continuity that awards many of the credentials PlanB's team holds (FBCI, MBCI, CBCI) and runs industry awards — an ecosystem enabler rather than a competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
PlanB Consulting social profiles
Digital presencePlanB Consulting compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
PlanB Consulting financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PlanB Consulting leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
PlanB Consulting funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PlanB Consulting M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PlanB Consulting
What does PlanB Consulting do?
PlanB Consulting is a specialist business continuity, crisis management, cyber incident response, and ISO 22301 certification consultancy delivering auditing, consultancy, training, exercising, and technology solutions to enterprise and public sector clients. The firm provides end-to-end BC lifecycle support including plan development, gap analysis, certification, operational resilience programmes, and a proprietary social media crisis training simulator (MITS), while reselling Castellan and Riskonnect BC software.
Is PlanB Consulting a public or private company?
PlanB Consulting is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was PlanB Consulting founded?
PlanB Consulting was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is PlanB Consulting based?
PlanB Consulting is headquartered in Paisley, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does PlanB Consulting make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Consultancy Services are the primary driver. The others are training Services, exercising Services, software Resale and special Projects.
Who are PlanB Consulting's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Fusion Risk Management, Riskonnect and Castellan Solutions. Broad incumbents are Control Risks, Databarracks and KPMG UK — Risk & Resilience. Direct peers are F24, Regester Larkin (SEC Newgate) and Avalution Consulting. Business Continuity Institute (BCI) is listed as an others.
Does PlanB Consulting have an API?
No public API is recorded for PlanB Consulting.
What industry is PlanB Consulting in?
PlanB Consulting's product category is Business Continuity Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEALAD, Business Continuity Planning & Program Management (BCP), with a secondary code of BPABANAB, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) Planning. Its NAICS code is 54161 and its SIC code is 8742.