FSB Merseyside and Cheshire is supporting an appeal from the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Dan Price, calling on small businesses to build resilience against online fraud.
The Cheshire PCC has funded a cyber awareness programme, run by the North West Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC), to arm small firms with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves. Dan is now running a series of events across the county to highlight the need for small business resilience, with the first – ‘Staying Ahead of the Cyber Predators,’ at Chester Zoo on Friday, 16 May 2025.
The appeal follows the Government Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025, which found that phishing is still the most prevalent and disruptive type of breach or attack, reported by 85% of businesses – a slight increase on 2024. In all, UK businesses experienced 8.58 million cyber-crimes over the past 12 months – up from 7.8 million last year.
FSB’s own 2023 report, ‘Cracking the case: uncovering the cost of small business crime,’ found that online crime against small businesses more than tripled from 20% to 72% in the previous four years, and that the sophistication of fraud incidents is an evolving challenge.
The majority of small businesses impacted reported a financial cost associated with the crime. The report concurs that phishing as the most common attack, followed by malware and social media hacking.
Small businesses hit by traditional crime are more than twice as likely to report it to the police than those who have experienced cybercrime, leading FSB to argue for mandatory business crime recording to be introduced by the Home Office.
FSB’s research shows that the majority of small businesses (93%) have taken at least one measure to protect themselves from online criminals – but cost, time and lack of expertise remain barriers that leave many exposed.
In addition to urging online platforms, social media outlets and email providers to tighten their security procedures, FSB believes empowering business owners to protect themselves is key.
FSB supports The Cheshire Cyber Security Programme, which was launched for last year and includes free membership and training for businesses from the NWCRC, a police-backed not-for-profit organisation created in 2019.
Further, FSB Merseyside and Cheshire is holding a cross-border event with FSB North Wales, ‘Locking Out Crime: Safeguarding Your Business in the Digital Age,’ at AMRC Cymru in Broughton, Flintshire, on Tuesday, 13 May. Speakers will include representatives from Pro-Networks Ltd and HSBC bank.
FSB Merseyside and Cheshire’s Phil McCabe said: “Cyber-crime can be incredibly harmful for small businesses, and the threat is growing more menacing as technology evolves. Business owners clearly want to take action to prevent it, and they need support.
“We are pleased to champion the work being done by the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner and NWCRC, alongside Cheshire Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit. As Cheshire PCC Dan Price says, prevention is the best form of defence.
“In a digital age, crime is not restricted by borders. That is why we are holding ‘Locking Out Crime,’ with FSB North Wales, to help in the effort to provide local small business owners with the know-how to protect themselves against online fraud.”
