Scottish Business Resilience Centre announces chair and vice chair appointments

Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) has announced that one of the country’s most senior former police officers is to be its new chair.

Paddy Tomkins was HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland and is now chief executive of Droman, a consultancy that provides advice on policing, civil contingency and public safety markets in the UK and overseas.

Mr Tomkin’s appointment as chair was unanimously approved by the SBRC Board along with that of AXA’s head of customer risk management, Douglas Barnett, who was named as vice-chair with similar backing from the board.

The newly appointed chairman, who has been on the SBRC board since last year, thanked his predecessor, outgoing chair Alasdair Macfarlane.

Mr Tomkins said: “Alasdair has led the board through very challenging operating conditions, and it is a great tribute to his leadership, wisdom and energy that the SBRC has grown so strongly under his chairmanship. I am delighted to be taking on the role at such a critical time for the Scottish business community, where undoubtedly the biggest threat to Scottish businesses, indeed to the services and infrastructure that underpins our lives in Scotland, is cybercrime.

“If we do not put cyber security and cyber resilience at the forefront of our thinking in all we do then we risk disruption, loss of intellectual property, financial harm and the undermining of public confidence that is essential a flourishing economy.”