‘We’re aiming for £16m revenue’: Blue Cube Security director

Rob Swainson talks threats abundance, UK focus, and stable leadership

Blue Cube Security expects its annual revenue to see a sharp uptick this year, even as evolving vendor, channel relationships, and macroeconomic conditions are forcing the partners to think outside the box.

Rob Swainson, director at the West Sussex-based MSP, tells CRN he sees the company reaching £15m to £16m in revenue from the UK FY25.

Part of this effort is streamlining its security vendor partnerships, he says. This is no small task for a company with a 25-year legacy.

“Back in the day, you could afford to be truly agnostic and consultative across a wide range,” says Swainson.

“We still carry that spirit, but the market has changed; there are now hundreds, if not thousands, of vendors in cybersecurity, so we’ve had to rationalise.”

The MSP now counts a core portfolio of cybersecurity vendors such as Qualys, Fortinet, Trend Micro, Thales, and Imperva.

It is also exploring emerging vendors and counts a few long-standing relationships that are still active despite not engaging with them as much as before.

The biggest distributor Blue Cube works with is Exclusive Networks.

While the business is “very much UK-focused,” new relationships tend to take it into other geographies, particularly mainland Europe.

Blue Cube works with 300 to 400 customers.

Targeting businesses and navigating tariffs

When it comes to customers, the firm is targeting for the mid-market, which it defines as organisations with between 5,000 and 10,000 seats.

It also deals with smaller organisations and very large customers, including service providers and major retailers.

While the company intends to reach higher levels in terms of revenue, it currently has no plans to acquire or to be acquired, but as Swainson says, “never say never.”

“If the right opportunity came along, something that aligned with our technology stack, services, and values, we’d definitely consider it.”

The company’s team, which now counts between 25 to 30 people, is led by what the director refers to as stable leadership team.

“One of our team members [Nick Kellaway] who joined a couple of years ago in a sales management role is now our sales and marketing director and part of the senior leadership team.

“Aside from that, the leadership team has been very stable.”

For the past few years, the team had to show resilience against rapid geopolitical shifts and, more recently, the economic volatility caused by the Trump admin’s tariff announcements.

“That said, cybersecurity has a certain resilience - no pun intended,” explains Swainson.

“Sadly, there’s no shortage of threats out there, so demand remains strong.

“I’d be lying if I said we were completely unaffected by macroeconomic conditions, but it hasn’t had a material impact on our business.

“We’re very aware of what’s happening in the US and other markets, and while we haven’t been directly affected, we keep a close eye on how it might influence our customers, because ultimately that could impact us too.”