Can small businesses get Cyber Essentials?

Yes - Cyber Essentials is explicitly designed for UK small businesses. The Micro tier covers organisations with 1-9 staff at £299.99 + VAT with Fig Group. Eligible certificate holders may separately receive a cyber-liability benefit arranged by IASME and its insurance partner; eligibility criteria and policy terms apply, and Fig Group does not provide or arrange it.

• Sole traders with employees or associates on payroll
• Micro-limited companies (1-9 headcount)
• Partnerships of up to 9 partners
• Charities and community interest companies up to 9 staff
• Owner-operated professional-services firms (consultancies, accountants, solicitors, designers)

• A valid Cyber Essentials certificate, issued digitally and searchable through the IASME certificate search.
• A separate IASME-arranged cyber-liability benefit where the holder meets the scheme eligibility criteria and policy terms.
• Use of the Cyber Essentials badge in marketing, tender responses, and email signatures.
• Evidence for tenders and supplier checks that request Cyber Essentials; the buyer's entity, scope, level and other conditions still determine eligibility.
• Compliance evidence that the customer may choose to share with an insurer, broker, or underwriter; the recipient decides any insurance outcome.

The work depends on the devices, cloud accounts and controls already in place. The five controls - firewalls, secure configuration, user access, malware protection and security update management - are a practical baseline, but business competence alone does not establish readiness. Common gaps include:

• Organisation-issued home-office routers still on factory default admin credentials (see remote and hybrid workforces). Ordinary privately owned home routers are outside the scheme boundary, while the business endpoint remains in scope.
• Phones on out-of-support Android or older iOS.
• One account used for both admin and daily email.

A free readiness check can flag possible gaps from your answers before you pay. It cannot detect every issue or replace the assessor's review.

Allow separate time to check scope, prepare controls and complete the questionnaire; time varies with the environment. Fig Group's Basic guarantee starts only after receipt of a complete, compliant submission before midday UK time on a UK Business Day, under the certification terms. Buying the assessment does not start that clock.

Yes. A one-person business is covered by the Micro tier at the same £299.99 + VAT. See Can a sole trader get Cyber Essentials? for a fuller answer.

Cyber Essentials was designed with UK small businesses in mind. Fig Group offers it from £299.99 + VAT with a same-day SLA for compliant submissions. Eligible holders may separately receive an IASME-arranged cyber-liability benefit; Fig Group does not provide or arrange it.

Start Cyber Essentials from £299.99 + VAT | Free readiness check | Cyber Essentials Online