66. Orange Cyberdefense

Revenue: £68.5m

Orange Cyberdefense UK is positioning itself as the country’s leading independent cybersecurity specialist, leveraging global backing from the Orange SA Group while maintaining a sharp focus on key markets including the UK, South Africa, and the United States. The company delivers a broad portfolio of cybersecurity services and solutions—ranging from managed detection and response to consulting and threat intelligence—designed to meet the growing and increasingly complex security needs of its enterprise customers.

In the financial year ending 31 December 2023, Orange Cyberdefense UK posted revenues of £68.5m, a slight dip from £71.3m the previous year, with the company attributing the decline to a market shift away from hardware purchases. Despite this, it generated a gross margin of £22.6m and continues to invest in scaling its higher-value service offerings. The business recorded a post-tax loss of £3.3m and ended the year with net cash of just over £1m. Net liabilities stood at £9.5m.

Since being acquired in 2022 by Orange Cyberdéfense S.A.—itself a wholly owned subsidiary of telecoms giant Orange SA—the UK business has leaned into a strategy of providing customers with a "one-stop shop" for cybersecurity. Its goal: to become the largest dedicated cybersecurity provider in the UK. A diverse, multi-vendor approach underpins its technology stack, helping it mitigate supply chain risks and offer customers flexibility in choosing the right security mix.

People remain central to the business. Orange Cyberdefense UK continues to invest significantly in its workforce, offering a range of training, career progression, and incentive programmes, including the development of its own internal academy. These initiatives are designed to attract and retain the skilled professionals needed to keep pace with a fast-evolving threat landscape.

While the company is exposed to common sector challenges—including currency risk, regulatory uncertainty, and economic volatility—it has implemented policies and governance practices to mitigate these. Backed by the scale and stability of the Orange group, and with an expanding portfolio of managed and advisory services, Orange Cyberdefense UK enters the next phase of growth with ambitions to further cement its leadership in the cybersecurity space.