The North West is a special place. And not just for its lush landscapes, Yorkshire pudding wraps or lower cost of living when compared to the expense of London and surrounding areas – its business scene is booming too.
During Plexal’s four years of operating from Manchester, we’ve witnessed the maturation of the region’s cyber ecosystem, which continues to excel.
Indeed, Lancaster University’s North West Cyber Corridor Innovation Impact Study validated the importance of the area, positioning the North West as the UK’s second largest cyber cluster with the second largest levels of investment.
Our work locally extends from the Greater Manchester Digital Security Hub (DiSH) initiative alongside Barclays Eagle Labs supporting startup growth through to co-leading delivery of the NW CyberCom: Commercialisation Sandpit with Lancaster University to help academics evolve their research into products that can solve real security challenges.
Earlier this year, Salford was our host location for Cyber Runway Live, where we assembled innovators together to understand and break down barriers around their development, growth and leadership. So, it was fitting that the UK Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis 2025 had then found the North West generated the highest proportion of external investment for the first time.
Feryal Clark MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government, DSIT, said: “[The North West is ] home to a growing number of cyber businesses and soon to be the home of the National Cyber Force in Lancashire, countering threats from terrorists, criminals and states seeking to do harm to the UK and other democratic societies.”
All of this to say, we deeply understand how important the North West ecosystem is for the UK economy broadly but for cyber innovation specifically – and we need the latter to ensure the former is protected.
Our fifth Cyber Runway programme is accepting applications until this Friday 17th October and it was important to us that we champion the North West through one of our new streams: NW Net Zero.
Cyber Runway: NW Net Zero is a regional programme for startups in the North West of England capable of securing organisations in sectors such as aerospace, data and energy as we work towards a greener future.
AEROSPACE
The aerospace industry is of major importance to the UK’s economy. It’s also one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise due to reliance on high-energy fuels, which has brought about innovations such as electric aircraft to work towards net zero goals.
While this is a positive step forward to support the green economy, electrification of aerospace presents a new layer of cyber security risks due to an expanded attack surface.
DATA CENTRES
The need for IT facilities is showing no signs of slowing down. And with increased use of technologies such as AI, the result is higher energy consumption.
Not only this, but higher adoption of digital tools leads to more data storage, widening the opportunity for bad actors to strike our critical national infrastructure.
ENERGY
From careers and community to education and efficiencies, the information age has created countless opportunities to enhance society.
The consequence of this is heightened energy demand – up 2.2% globally in 2024, according to IEA – which negatively impacts the environment through greenhouse gases and more.
Low emission sources, such as electric cars, wind and solar, are fortunately rising but these emerging technology methods bring new security considerations with them.
Led by Plexal in partnership with Lancaster University, NW Net Zero aims to strengthen security of technologies linked to the green economy by accelerating cyber startups through collaboration with net zero leaders.
This is an opportunity become part of an ambition to cultivate a thriving regional ecosystem that secures the UK’s emerging green economy by understanding the challenges faced by industry stakeholders and co-creating solutions.
Is this an area in which your company will thrive? We want to hear from you – submit your application today.
