The West Midlands Cyber Hub is a hotbed of innovation and enterprise which has caught the imagination of the region’s tech sector since it opened towards the end of last year. The charismatic driving forces behind the facility, Wayne Horkan and his son Andy, explain to HENRY CARPENTER how it came about and where they see it going.
You would be hard pushed to meet a more engaging character than Wayne Horkan.
Perpetually cheerful and infectiously positive, it is no exaggeration to say he is also in possession of a unique mind which has allowed him his status as one of the most cyber-literate figures in the UK.
We meet in the boardroom of the West Midlands Cyber Hub, the centre in Millennium Point which he launched in November, and we are joined by his son Andy, CEO of Cyber Tzar, who has led the company through a period of rapid growth, securing investment, significantly increasing revenues within a year, and earning recognition as Young Business Person of the Year (also a bodybuilding champion and former Mr Jersey!). The two of them obviously get on like a house on fire, frequently high-fiving after a wise comment or witty joke.
First off though, the hub . . . what exactly is it and why was it set up?
Occupying a prominent site on the third floor of Millennium Point, Wayne describes it as a “new focal point for collaboration, practical support and ecosystem-building across the region’s growing cyber community”.
It is, he says, a delivery space where SMEs, academia, public partners and industry can come together to strengthen resilience, build capability and accelerate opportunity.
Throughout our discussion, he makes constant reference to the community not just within the cyber hub but in the wider Millennium Point environment. He is clearly uncomfortable being the focal point of this article but not only is he best place to explain the evolution of the hub – with the help of Andy – but he is also a fascinating character in his own right.
The West Midlands Cyber Hub, it turns out, is really borne from one man’s frustration (Wayne’s) that this facility is massively overdue in somewhere with a complex industrial profile like Birmingham.
“The West Midlands has always been a region shaped by industry, innovation and reinvention,” says Wayne.
“From automotive and advanced manufacturing to aerospace, logistics and professional services, the regional economy depends on complex networks of businesses working together, often through tightly connected supply chains.
“That same interconnectedness, however, is also why cyber resilience has become one of the defining business challenges of the moment. As cyber disruption increasingly targets operations as well as data, the ability of organisations to withstand shocks and recover quickly is becoming central to competitiveness and continuity.”
He also makes the point that cyber itself is also changing. The sector is moving beyond a narrow focus on technical controls towards a broader understanding of resilience: how organisations recover, adapt and continue operating when disruption occurs. That shift matters in industrial regions like the West Midlands, where cyber is inseparable from business continuity.
“The West Midlands is not short of cyber activity,” he says. “The region has strong universities, emerging specialist firms, public-sector partners committed to supporting business, and deep industrial foundations that make cyber security and resilience especially relevant.
“What has often been missing, however, is coordination: a visible centre of gravity where organisations can connect, where smaller firms can access support, and where the region can begin to build a coherent cyber narrative linked directly to its economic strengths.”
The response from the city’s cyber community has been positive. Several hundred visitors have made their way to the hub, 24 events have been held there and a further six are scheduled for the months ahead.
Five partner companies are currently hosted within the hub, reflecting the diversity of the region’s cyber capability. Orbital, for example, is focused on identity management, an increasingly critical foundation of modern security. Cyber Q Group brings expertise in cyber operations management and risk services. Cybercy provides risk-based consultancy, helping firms understand and prioritise exposure in business terms. The Cyber Chain Alliance adds further depth in supply chain-focused approaches, reflecting the growing importance of third-party risk. Other close collaborators include Blunt Security and Goldilock Secure, reinforcing the hub’s ability to bring together regional specialist capabilities across identity, infrastructure protection and operational resilience.
“Early engagement has been strong not simply because cyber is a growing concern, but because businesses are increasingly looking for practical routes into resilience, assurance and trusted networks,” says Andy.
“A key part of the hub’s early momentum has been the emphasis on partnership. Cyber resilience is not something any single organisation can solve alone, particularly in a region defined by supply chain dependency.”
The Horkans keep stressing that the hub has been built as a collaborative platform, working alongside numerous regional stakeholders including Tech West Midlands, Innovation Alliance West Midlands, Midlands Cyber, the West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre, Aston University, and partners across the Combined Authority, further and higher education.
“Partners across the region have been clear about the value of having a shared focal point,” says Andy.
“As the West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre has noted, creating accessible spaces where SMEs can engage early and confidently with cyber risk is essential if resilience is to scale across the regional economy.”
As well as the SMEs which work at the hub, we can add Cyber Tzar, the West Midlands-founded enterprise supply chain cyber risk platform company which was founded by Wayne but is now run by Andy.
“It focuses on supply chain resilience,” explains Andy. “It reflects one of the region’s defining challenges: in manufacturing-heavy economies, cyber risk is rarely confined to a single organisation, but cascades through networks of dependency.”
The company operates in a space typically dominated by significantly larger international providers, yet has continued to grow rapidly. A central aim of the platform is to make capabilities that have traditionally only been available to large enterprises accessible to a much wider market, enabling organisations of all sizes to assess and manage cyber risk across their supply chains.
It is also developing a cyber risk scoring approach for organisations, designed to provide greater visibility and consistency in how cyber exposure is understood.
Although Andy is a key player in the evolution of the hub, it is clear that its genesis and formula is really down to his dad.
It takes a bit of effort to get Wayne talking about his history, but once he does, it’s a fascinating tale he has to tell.
For starters he is autistic – but he has used neuro diversity to his advantage.
When growing up in Nechells in the 1970s, while the rest of his peer group were likely to have posters of pop stars or footballers on their walls, young Wayne had a poster of the first ‘Cray’ supercomputer. The pointers that his brain worked in different ways to his contemporaries’ were there, and it came as a surprise to nobody when he started programming on a Sinclair Spectrum while still a lad in the early 1980s.
“The thing about my type of neurodiversity is that you don’t need as much company as other children,” says Wayne now. “Autism is about pattern matching, regulation, ritualisation and focusing on one thing . . . so in other words it is ideal for coding and systems design.”
It wasn’t until the early 1990s though that Wayne set about a career in programming in earnest. Most people would be chuffed if they had a fraction of the CV which he has amassed.
He got taken on by Land Rover to write statistical process control systems in 1993, before being headhunted for Harrods a few years later. He was at least partly responsible for helping bring the luxury retailer online for a US audience.
He became involved in the earliest days of streaming, working with Fulham Football Club, before joining Sun Microsystems at the height of the dotcom boom, where he spent nine years, including three as CTO for UK & Ireland. During that time, he also contributed to the Government Gateway, helping to shape the security policy (a system which is yet to be breached – much to his satisfaction).
Senior roles followed with organisations including Thomas Cook and Manchester United FC, where he was head of online technology, as well as leading the redesign of the UK’s border control platform. More recently, he has held key positions at Direct Line Group and Bupa, alongside contributing to the growth and impact of the microfinance charity Street UK.
Alongside his role in establishing the hub, Wayne continues to work across a number of ventures and research areas that reflect his long-standing focus on resilience. These include Psyber Inc, a cyber psychology and recoverability platform built around what he describes as a “post-cyber world” – where breaches are increasingly seen as inevitable and the ability to recover quickly becomes as important as prevention.
He is also active in research into the weaponisation of artificial intelligence and the corresponding defensive frameworks required to mitigate emerging threats, contributing to discussions that increasingly shape how policymakers and industry leaders think about cyber risk at a national level. His writing, through a widely read technology blog with a substantial UK and international audience (at Horkan.com), has further positioned him as a leading voice in the evolution of cyber resilience thinking.
That is a serious track record of building and managing complex IT systems, but in the latter years in particular he has felt other areas in the UK were stealing a march on his beloved West Midlands.
This is a region which has its own unique, complex and brittle network of supply chains – as those affected by the JLR breach last year would testify – and as such is crying out for a mutually supportive, collaborative cyber facility.
So he and Andy rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in.
“It’s a case of jumping in the deep end and learning to swim quickly,” says Wayne. “For the last five or six years, Andy and I have been to every event we could get to, and put ourselves about in the ecosystem. I went to two to three networking events a week to help build the community here.”
That visibility in the ecosystem was not accidental. Alongside the development of the hub, Wayne has played an active role in shaping the region’s cyber and technology community, contributing to initiatives such as the Cyber Working Group and the Tech West Midlands Special Interest Groups, as well as working with institutions including the IET, BCS and the Lunar Society, as well as contributing to accelerator programmes with organisations including NCSC, DSIT and Innovate UK.
“We did have the added specific aims of supporting both women and the neurodiversity community in cyber. We wanted to look at how we could get people into jobs, and really give start-ups and SMEs working at the forefront of cyber innovation and services the boost they need.”
The location could hardly be more perfect, according to the Horkans.
“We are located in a venue literally named Technology,” says Andy.
“We have had more than 700 visitors, put on over 20 events and have five SMEs which we consider partnership organisations within the hub’s offices, and a further nine who use the drop-in centre.”
“In collaboration with Wolverhampton University and the WM CRC we have helped 35 SMEs to improve their cyber defences. We’ve also interviewed 17 students and have placed nine in roles, so within a space of only a few months we have accomplished a great deal.”
It is about supporting organisations and individuals through the full journey: from early awareness and first steps in cyber, through innovation and capability-building, into job creation, job matching, customer access and sustainable growth.
Workforce development is another central pillar. The cyber skills gap remains one of the most persistent constraints on resilience nationally, and the West Midlands is no exception.
There is another key member of the hub’s team and that is project manager Rebecca Robinson. She is shortly taking over from Wayne as director, allowing him to focus on revenue rather than supporting the hub’s community.
“My journey here started by helping to turn an ambitious idea into a vibrant and operationally effective community space for cyber collaboration,” she says.
“From the early stages of coordinating partners, programmes and events, my role focused on building a hub that connects academia, industry and emerging talent.
“Over time, that work evolved into shaping the strategy behind the hub, supporting employers, developing talent pathways and creating a welcoming space for the region’s growing cyber ecosystem
“I’m proud to now be stepping into the role of director, and looking ahead, my focus remains on championing women in cyber and neurodiversity in cyber, ensuring the sector becomes more inclusive and accessible.
“Over the coming months we will also be establishing the hub as a not-for-profit community organisation, formalising a strong governance model to support long-term sustainability and scale, expanding programmes that support cyber startups, SME growth and young people entering the sector, and exploring additional floor space to enable more collaboration, student engagement and community events.”
The last word and comment should really be reserved for Wayne though, whose unique combination of experience, expertise, neurodiversity and pure passion for both industry and region has set the cyber hub – and wider community – fair for the foreseeable future.
The strength of ethos is partially down to his pride in, and compassion for, a region which has led the way in innovation and industry over the centuries.
“In a region built on making things, cyber offers the next generation a way to shape resilience, innovation and security in the industries that define the West Midlands.
“In an economy built on interconnected industry, resilience is collective.
“The hub’s purpose is simple: to help the West Midlands build that resilience together, turning cyber from a source of risk into a foundation for confidence, growth and long-term competitiveness.”
Millennium Point welcomes cyber hub
As an award-winning STEM charity, Millennium Point is excited to welcome the WM Cyber Hub into our building. This new centre represents far more than just a tenant, it reflects a shared commitment to strengthening the region’s future talent, supporting innovation, and increasing the West Midlands position as a leader in technology.
At Millennium Point, our purpose has always been to advance opportunities in STEM. Through our charitable trust, we invest in skills that improve career prospects and education. The WM Cyber Hub aligns perfectly with this mission. Their focus on advancing cyber skills and inclusive specialist training complements our dedication to helping the next generation of scientists, engineers and other STEM careers.
By having WM Cyber Hub in our building, they build on the exciting STEM based tenants that already exists within Millennium Point. By welcoming them into our community of technology, education and future-focused organisations, we create new possibilities for working together, passing knowledge and passion for helping young people in the region. This is vital at a time when digital and cyber skills are crucial across most industries, if not all.
Most importantly, the arrival of the WM Cyber Hub helps position Birmingham and the West Midlands as a leader in digital skills and STEM innovation. Together, we are building an environment where businesses can thrive, students can access new career prospects, and the region can continue to build its reputation for knowledge, innovation and trade.
We are absolutely delighted to support this important addition to the region’s tech offering and we look forward to the positive impact it will have on the future of talent and opportunity here at Millennium Point.
Abbie Vlahakis, CEO, Millennium Point
