Harry Hameed, co-founder of Compliance Direct Solution, says criminals view it as an opportunity with many people working away from offices.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, he said: “What you found was that a lot more people were sharing data connecting to networks from locations and servers that were not secure.

“That resulted in a lot more people breaching cyber security practices and falling foul of phishing attacks.

“We actually found that there was a big spike in the number of data breaches and cyber security attacks following the pandemic.

Mr Hameed is originally from Leeds. He founded Manchester-based Compliance Direct Solutions with Usman Ahmed in 2019.

The Yorkshire-born entrepreneur says businesses need to carry our regular testing and scanning of their networks.

“What they need to do is test their networks regularly in conjunction with monthly vulnerability scanning,” he said.

Mr Hameed says that businesses need to be aware of the importance of training staff on best practice when it comes to cyber security as well as giving them the ability to spot potential phishing attacks.

He added: “A lot of businesses don’t actually train their frontline staff adequately. They just bring them in, give them the tools and tell them to crack on with the job.

“In many cases from day one or day two of the job they are dealing with customer data. It can take the smallest mistakes from a member of staff, to cause a big breach.

“Email breaches are massive at the moment, that is something that we really recommend training staff on.”

Businesses don’t always dedicate as much in resources to cyber security and compliance as they should, Mr Hameed says.

“The main reason is because it’s not a very interesting or glamorous subject,” he added. “It’s one of those subjects where people really switch off.”

Awareness of the importance of cyber security is on the rise especially with more and more businesses realising the importance of having robust systems in place.

Mr Hameed said: “We’re actually using it as a tool to help businesses boost their revenue by improving customer confidence in their brand. You find that customers do repeat business with these companies because they feel valuable and they feel safe.”

Compliance Direct Solution managed to grow throughout the lockdown period, which Mr Hameed puts down to the relationships he had built with people prior to setting up the business.

“During the lockdown everything just ceased,” he said. “We really were in a position where we felt how are we going to grow as a business? Thankfully we managed to grow as a business through those relationships.”

The business was able to focus on adding value to its customers due to its lower overheads and more agile structure.

“For us it’s not about increasing prices to add value,” Mr Hameed says. “Our growth model is all about the number of customers and the duration of service that we offer them.”

He added: “The greatest challenge for us has been we haven’t been able to get ourselves in front of the right people at the right time.

“When we began it was challenging to run the business, work on the business and work in the business at the same time.

Mr Hameed says the goal is to grow the business to a point where it is a “leading supplier of data protection and cyber security services within the North of England”.

“I would love to be a leading provider in Manchester and then move to the West Yorkshire area and further across the country,” he added.

The chemistry behind Compliance

Prior to setting up Compliance Direct Solution, Harry Hameed’s background was in sales.

He worked for another company working in the cyber security and compliance space in a sales capacity.

Mr Hameed studied for a degree in chemistry but switched to a career in sales as his “heart was never in it”.

He said: “I was studying and going to university just because I felt I needed a degree to pursue a career. Following my degree, I felt that I had a skill in sales.

“I like meeting people and speaking to people. It was the only natural progression forward.”

Mr Hammed decided to set up his own business after growing frustrated at a lack of career progression in his previous job.

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