The Certificate That Won Our Client a £200k Contract

Aisha M — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:57:38 +0000

A few months back, a growing UK business was on the verge of landing a £200,000 contract.
They had the better team, better pricing, and a better track record than everyone else competing for the work. The deal was essentially done. Then, during the final procurement stage, the client dropped a dealbreaker on the table:
We need to see your Cyber Essentials Plus certificate before we can sign.
The company had standard Cyber Essentials, but not the Plus version. They had 14 days to get audited, verified, and certified, or the £200k contract was going to their main competitor.

They scrambled, patched their systems, passed the technical audit with days to spare, and signed the contract.

That single badge was literally worth £200,000 to their bottom line.
If you have ever looked into UK government contracts, public sector work, or enterprise supplier lists, you have seen Cyber Essentials Plus everywhere. It pops up in tenders, client onboarding questionnaires, and cyber insurance paperwork.

Most business owners look at it and ask the exact same thing: Is this actually going to protect my business, or is it just another expensive certificate to hang on the wall so you can win the contract?
The short answer is both. How much value you get out of it depends entirely on how you approach it.

What Cyber Essentials Plus Actually Checks

To understand why buyers care about this badge, you have to look at what happens during the assessment.
Standard Cyber Essentials is a basic self-assessment. You fill out a form, answer a series of questions, sign off on it, and promise that you are doing the right things.

Cyber Essentials Plus goes further. Instead of taking your word for it, an independent technical auditor tests your setup directly. They actively check whether your defenses work the way you claim.

They focus on five core technical areas:
Firewalls: Confirming your network boundary is secure so unauthorised traffic stays out.
Secure Configuration: Checking that your devices, routers, and software are set up securely rather than running on weak factory settings.
User Access Control: Verifying that staff only have access to the files and systems they need to do their jobs.
Malware Protection: Proving that your anti-virus software actually detects and blocks malicious files.
Patch Management: Checking that your software, operating systems, and applications stay updated so known security flaws get plugged.
Standard Cyber Essentials tells a client, "We claim we do the basics."
Cyber Essentials Plus tells them, "A professional came in, tested our systems, and proved we do the basics."
That distinction matters when big money or sensitive data is involved.

Why People Hate It (And Why They Aren't Wrong)

The cynical reputation around security certifications is well earned.
A lot of companies treat Cyber Essentials Plus as a one-time sprint. They panic, spend three crazy weeks patching laptops, clean up user accounts, pass the audit, get the badge, and move on.
Then, over the next eleven months, they completely ignore those controls.
Software updates stop getting installed. New employees get admin access they do not need. Laptops fall out of date. By month six, all the security controls tested during the audit have quietly slipped. But the badge remains on their website and email signatures.
This is where the "box ticking" reputation comes from. The certificate exists, but the real security protection disappeared months ago.
It is also a waste of money. Scrambling every twelve months to pass a renewal costs twice as much time, energy, and money as maintaining good security all year round.

When Cyber Essentials Plus Is Non-Negotiable

You might be wondering if you can safely ignore this certification for now. The answer depends on who you sell to and what kind of data you handle.
Cyber Essentials Plus stops being optional and becomes essential if:
You are bidding for UK public sector contracts: For government tenders involving sensitive or personal data, you cannot even apply without this badge.
Enterprise clients demand it in procurement: Large corporate buyers want to protect their supply chains. They know smaller suppliers can be an easy back door into their network, so they use this certification to filter bidders.
Your cyber insurance provider requires it: Insurers are getting strict about ransomware claims. Many now require proof of baseline controls before approving policy renewals.
You handle sensitive customer data: If a data breach at your company exposes your clients, they will expect proof that you take security seriously.
If any of those points apply to you, Cyber Essentials Plus is not just a nice marketing tool. It is a mandatory cost of doing business.

Prioritising Security Posture Over Certification Timing

If your current clients are not asking for the badge, you do not need to rush out and buy the certificate tomorrow just for the sake of having it.
However, that does not mean you should ignore what the test checks for.
The smartest move is to fix your security posture first. Get your devices updated, clean up user permissions, and secure your network baseline now. Once your day-to-day operations naturally match what the test requires, getting certified later becomes fast, simple, and inexpensive.
Rushing to buy a certification audit when your IT infrastructure is disorganized is painful. You end up spending extra money trying to fix basic problems while the auditor is waiting on you.
Fix the security first. Grab the badge when a contract requires it.

The Real Value Isn’t the Certificate

Businesses that get real value out of Cyber Essentials Plus treat the assessment as a system audit, not a finish line.
The assessment process highlights common operational risks that growing companies usually overlook:
Old devices running unsupported software in the background.
Accounts left active for employees who left months ago.
Factory default settings left unchanged on routers and network gear.
Fixing those issues makes your business significantly harder to hack. Getting a clean badge to show prospective clients is a great side benefit, but the main goal is avoiding downtime, data loss, and costly security incidents.

Let’s Get You Certified

Trying to figure out compliance requirements while running your business is why so many managers find the process frustrating. You end up reading long guides, guessing what assessors look for, and wasting days on manual checks.
Elite IT Team handles the full certification process from start to finish. We begin with a straightforward gap analysis to identify where your setup stands today. From there, we help you fix any security gaps, guide you through the technical audit, and set up continuous monitoring so your business stays compliant year-round. No last-minute panic, no lapsed badges, and no wasted spend.

Check out our full guide to see where your business stands:
Do You Actually Need Cyber Essentials Plus, or Is It Just a Box to Tick?