We’re bringing together experts in digital and cyber security from the public, private and academic sectors to help Greater Manchester’s digital security startups to innovate and grow.
Introducing DiSH
Manchester City Council has selected a consortium led by Barclays Eagle Labs to operate the new Greater Manchester Digital Security Hub (DiSH). DiSH offers growing digital security businesses and the wider Greater Manchester community with access to business support, mentoring, dedicated growth programmes, training, and career opportunities through a consortium of Barclays Eagle Labs, Plexal, Lancaster University and The University of Manchester.
DiSH Accelerator
This 12-week programme provides startups in digital & cyber security, and startups specialising in key technologies that underpin digital and cyber security capabilities, the support & mentoring they need to grow, scale and integrate into the burgeoning Greater Manchester ecosystem. Applications for the third cohort are now open
Hear from the team
Hear our partners talk about how we are supporting start-ups, corporates and individuals across Greater Manchester’s digital security ecosystem.
Our community
Mentoring & coaching
From leading entrepreneurs, digital security industry professionals, and academics.
Events & workshops
An extensive digital security and cyber tech events programme, workshops and meet-ups.
A likeminded community
An inspiring and collaborative community of digital security and cyber tech businesses.
Learning & insights
Explore digital and cyber security content from our industry partners.
Partnerships
Get access to support and insights from our renowned industry partners.
Centred in Manchester
Based in the heart of the Greater Manchester digital security ecosystem to provide workspace and trusted connections for local entrepreneurs.
What we do
Digital Security
Driving innovation and inclusion across the Digital & Cyber Security industry.
Events
Our programme of industry and business focused events are built to support digital security businesses to network and grow. Join a virtual or in-person event coming up soon.
Secure Digitalisation Programme
Learn why Cyber Security is important and how it applies to every business. Free support for business leaders from all sectors. A non-technical course for a technical world delivered by Lancaster University. We encourage a secure by design philosophy, and teach you how to weave cyber security practices into your organisation to help you to defend, innovate and grow your business
Academia & research
Lancaster University and the University of Manchester have a wealth of academic expertise and research capabilites which DiSH members can access to identify cyber and digital challenges within the Greater Manchester ecosystem
Employment and skills
We’re working with partners across Greater Manchester to provide a range of digital and cyber educational initiatives, including workshops for local primary schools and digital security innovation training, helping to upskill individuals to access opportunities in the growing sector.
Supporting social businesses
We have a wealth of business mentoring and support available for the voluntary and community sector within Greater Manchester.
Programmes
Funding Readiness Programme
Designed to help growing businesses navigate the funding landscape in order to fund their growth.
Scaleup Programme Plexal
Delivered by expert partners to provide rapidly growing businesses with the support they need to tackle their specific growth challenges.
Industry Bridge Programmes
Bringing together larger businesses and startups to cross-share core strategic thinking and best practices and co-create solutions to help transform the wider industry.
Ecosystem Partnership Programme
The Ecosystem Partnership Programme is designed to provide the infrastructure and programmatic activity within the regions that will further increase the value of the UK tech sector.
Mentoring
DiSH can provide one-to-one coaching and mentoring from start-up and industry experts. We provide our members with a range of coaching and mentoring opportunities, including access to the experience and expertise of Barclays Chief Security Office with our handpicked mentors who can assist in a range of areas from Cryptography, Cybercrime, Physical Security and Digital Security tools and processes.
Adam Kramer
Head of Joint
Operations Centre
Adam leads the Barclays Joint Operations Centre, which is a multi-function operational fusion centre based in multiple global locations, and provide 24x7 monitoring and response to a broad range of threats including cyber & physical security, buildings/premises, economic crime and more, all of which is supported by a suite of teams providing expert guidance and intelligence feeds.
Paul McCabe
Team Lead for Barclays International Application Security & Penetration Testing
Paul McCabe has worked for Barclays for 20 years and is the Barclays International Team Lead for Application Security & Penetration Testing, within the Chief Security Office. Prior to this Paul worked for IBM. Paul is responsible for ensuring Barclays International Payment and High-Value systems comply with Regulatory and internal Cyber Security Standards helping to maintain the systems Cyber Security posture.
Philip Ashworth
Security Consultant
Chief Security Office
Philip has worked in cyber security for 14 years with primary focus being network security/architecture and the implementation of technology controls to provide defence in depth.
In his current role with Barclays as a Security Consultant he provides security governance and guidance to internal projects.
Dharmesh Kavia
Head of Third Party
Security Due Diligence
Dharmesh has worked in the Information Technology industry for over 15 years, and focused on cyber security for 10 of these years. Dharmesh has a vast experience in cyber security domains, which include managing and developing security operations centres, conducting security audits, providing security consulting and third party security risk management.
Dharmesh joined the Barclays Chief Security Office in 2018 working within the Third Party Security Assurance and Monitoring team after spending a number of years consulting in government and private sector roles.
Mladen Marev
Head of Security Engineering
in Digital Platforms, Barclays
Mladen has worked at Barclays over 9 years, he worked in the security department in cryptography and certificate management and security architect. 5 years ago, He joined the Barclays Mobile Banking application team, responsible for cyber vulnerabilities management. Recently, his responsibilities have grown across the Digital Platform, helping the applications to be secure and robust in regard of threat attacks, detection and exploit the holes and misuse (intentional or not) of the interfaces. He is familiar with many aspects of vulnerability detection tools and approaches, Such as pen testing, SAST, DAST, SCA, etc. and with secure software development. Additionally, he has have knowledge and experience in key management, public key infrastructure, crypto.
Vivek Nighot
Technical Lead
Insider Threats
Vivek has over 11 years IT experience working in numerous technical areas such as DevOps, SIEM, SOAR. He has been working in Cyber Security domain for the last 6 years and has developed deep understanding of various security frameworks and best practices, to effectively address threats and vulnerabilities. He is the technical lead for the Insider Threat Fusion Centre where he built technical platform to detect and target insider threats for the bank. He is currently building the next generation solution for detecting and mitigating insider threat activities. He is passionate about pushing boundaries of SIEM(Security Incident and Event Management) technology to enhance threat detection, Incident response and overall security posture for organizations. Key areas he can provide mentorship and advice are SIEM, Security data analytics, Data Engineering, Security logging and Monitoring , Emerging Insider threat detection.
Lindsey Briscoe
GTIS
Service Delivery Reporting Lead
Lindsey joined Barclays in 2022 as a Management Consultant, moving to a permanent position (after 14 years as a self-employed consultant) in the Service Delivery team in March 2023. She has a passion for automation, all things excel and the psychology of data interpretation. She believes that good data, presented in the right way for its intended audience, informs the best possible decision making at every level and eliminates unnecessary system waste. Lindsey also has a Finance MBA from the University of Liverpool, and a wide range of industry experience including process redesign, data engineering & programme management in healthcare, banking, construction & logistics. She also maintains her consultancy business with occasional client work, some freelance bid writing in the healthcare space and a few e-commerce based web sites that sell digital (predominantly excel based) solutions globally.
Dr Aliyu Aliyu
Cyber Security Analyst
Chief Security Office
Aliyu has a strong background in education and technology having an Information Technology in Organisations degree from the University of Southampton. A Masters degree with distinction in Cyber Security with Management and a PhD in Cyber Threat Intelligence, specialising on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Having worked with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Aliyu developed a Maturity Assessment Framework which allows UK Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) to assert their level of security maturity. In his current role with Barclays as a Cyber Security Analyst he supports the day-to-day operations of the Chief Security Office providing insights and expertise that help support the vision and mission of all the business areas.
Eagle Labs mentoring partners
Whether you want to talk about your product, have a question about expanding your business or just need to talk to someone who’s been in your shoes, our mentors will share their knowledge and insights to support you grow your business.
You may book a slot with one of our mentors. While we will endeavor to facilitate your access to a mentor, we cannot guarantee that mentors will always be available. Support provided by mentors is not intended to amount to professional advice, and should not be relied on as such. Mentors may in some cases be independent third parties and by using the mentor service, you acknowledge and accept that we have no control over the information or guidance that they provide. Views and opinions expressed by mentors do not represent Barclays’ views and opinions and we accept no liability arising from any information or guidance provided to you.
Our partners
Introducing Cisco
Global technology giant Cisco become our Founding Cyber Security and Technology Partner and have joined forces with DiSH Mcr to help serve the Greater Manchester Cyber ecosystem. Cisco bring with them a vast array of resource and experience to support our ecosystem. From helping startups to grow and scale to upskilling individuals and providing cyber careers and training opportunities, we’re proud to be working with our friends at Cisco. Get in touch to find out more about what we’re doing together.
DTX
Digital Transformation EXPO (DTX) Manchester is the North’s biggest digital and IT event, sharing the latest developments and applications across cloud and IT infrastructure, data and AI, cyber security, software engineering and DevOps.
On the 2 and 3 April 2025, as part of Manchester Tech Week, DTX will host tech teams from across the region along with cutting-edge solution providers to share learnings and get to grips with the tools necessary to operationalise digital projects and unlock value.
Meet the DiSH team
Siobhan Gurrie
Ecosystem Manager, Barclays
Siobhan has worked for Barclays since 2011, starting as a cashier before moving into a personal banking role, helping customers with their product and servicing needs. She has a passion for meeting new people and learning new things.
Harvey Minton
Ecosystem Manager, Barclays
Harvey is responsible for the Greater Manchester ecosystem. He is the go-to for supporting start up and scale up businesses to connect, collaborate and grow. A well-connected bridge within Barclays and the broader community, Harvey makes a significant difference by enabling seamless partnership and collaboration.
David Bleakman
Barclays
David is the Digital Security & Cyber Industry Lead for Barclays Eagle Labs, creating programmes and connections to support corporates and start-ups across the industry.
James Darwent
Barclays
James works as a Cyber Innovation Associate at DiSH, connecting businesses and experts by acting as a bridge between the hub and Lancaster University. James supports startups with business development, grows partnerships, and works closely with DiSH's consortium partners to create a vibrant and effective community within the GM tech landscape.
Jon Lomas
Lancaster University
Jon leads Lancaster University’s Secure Digitalisation programme and wider activities at DiSH. Jon is also actively supporting the development of skills and education provision across Greater Manchester and creating links between the academic, corporate and business communities.
Danny Dresner
University of Manchester
Danny is the University of Manchester's Professor of Cyber Security. He finds the threads that bind information together and mend them when they break. He has a noted track record in projects supporting SMEs' cyber security, and works to bridge the divide between people and technology.
Alliah Rust
Plexal
Alliah is an Innovation Associate at Plexal and is supporting DiSH cohort members through the delivery of the DiSH Accelerator Programme which develops and champions founders on their growth journey.
Alliah has a passion for supporting startups, being an engaged member of the GM ecosystem and has a keen interest in emerging technologies.
Stuart Coulson
University of Manchester
Stuart Coulson is a Cyber Security expert with over 20 years of experience in the industry. He currently works as the Cyber Ecosystem Project Manager for the DiSH Accelerator project at the University of Manchester, supporting the growth of cyber startups and entrepreneurs in the Manchester region. Stuart is also the founder of his own consultancy, HiddenText, where he focuses on Security Awareness and Business issues. Stuart often appears on panels, podcasts, and webinars to share his experiences and opinions, and his successful blog at HiddenText was a finalist in the Cisco IT Blog Awards.
Get in touch
Whether you’re starting out in digital security and cyber or looking to expand, we’re here to help. If you’d like to find out more about our DiSH programme and upcoming events, we’d love to hear from you.
Partners
Barclays Eagle Labs
Eagle Labs are a growing national network of incubator spaces that provide business incubation, mentoring and co-working space for ambitious high-growth businesses.
By cultivating a community of likeminded entrepreneurs through a providing a collaborative work environment, access to their peers and opportunities to maximise growth through digital connections, curated events and funding opportunities, Eagle Labs are able to help start-ups to grow at pace.
Plexal
Plexal is the innovation company that supercharges collaboration.
It combines open innovation with a community of fast-growth startups to help enterprises and the government unlock the potential of technology.
As the dedicated innovation partner for DiSH, Plexal will deliver digital security innovation programmes, helping to catalyse the growth of SMEs across Greater Manchester and beyond through the integration of its sector-specific innovation expertise and its national and international networks.
The University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a member of the prestigious Russell Group and one of the UK’s largest single-site universities. UoM have over 40,000 students, 12,000 staff and with almost 480,000 former students from more than 190 countries, we are home to the largest alumni community of any campus-based university in the UK. No fewer than 25 Nobel laureates have either worked or studied here.
Lancaster University
As lead academic partner, Lancaster University brings world-class research and teaching into the partnership. Research intensive and ranked in the top-ten of all UK league tables, it has been the highest ranked University in the North West for more than a decade and holds a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.One of the UK’s leading Universities for cyber security research, innovation and skills development, Lancaster was among the first cohort of UK universities to gain recognition for its commitment to cyber security education, being recognised by the NCSC as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education.
More from DiSH and Eagle Labs
The dog help dog ecosystem
Not all shadows in the forest are benevolent. The forest ecosystem can be as dangerous and harmful as it can be protective and sustaining. The food chain rattles and clinks as it condemns the vulnerable to the foibles of the predators. For many, life in the ecosystem is as brutish and short as the philosopher suggests.
A saucer of milk for the cats; a DiSH for the rest of us
There’s more to the Internet than cats; but there does seem to be a plethora of cat photographs on the World Wide Web. We all know where cats don’t stand a chance, and we should all know that like the physical world, the Internet and World Wide Web bear risks as well as rewards. Cyber security!
Article
What corporates are seeking in partnerships with digital security startups and scale-ups
Ronen Gottlib, Cyber Innovation Director at Barclays, on what digital security startups need to know about working with corporates.
3 minute read