Business review
Strong momentum
A strong performance built on investment in talent The year started slowly. Different markets exited the pandemic at different rates and times. There was still a sense of uncertainty from customers around the world, which saw many project delays during the first quarter. But this position reversed throughout the year, and we accelerated our delivery in tandem with demand peaking in the final quarter. We were able to capitalise on this increased demand because we had brought more talented colleagues into the business ahead of the bounce back – a deliberate decision based on the belief that cyber security spend would significantly increase once the world returned to some level of normality. The digital risk has only increased, ransomware is endemic, and we’ve seen a shift in mindset, driven by regulations and also the emerging ESG agenda, that cyber resilience is not optional but essential for sustainable and responsible business growth. It was simply a matter of time. Over 12 months we welcomed c.1,000 new people into the business. While our technical attrition rate remains at a level typical of our industry at c.21%, our global technical team grew by 271. The fight for talent has been incredibly fierce, but we have been able to attract brilliant people at scale. This shows the strength of our employer brand and the steps we’ve taken to improve the colleague experience. But this wasn’t simply about taking talent from the competition. We understand and embrace our role and position in the cyber security industry. We are a creator of talent. Our mission is to make the world safer and more secure, and part of that means helping to solve the cyber skills shortage. It’s why we continue to develop talent from the ground up and bring people into the industry from different walks of life and backgrounds and with different skill sets. This approach not only grows the overall cyber talent pool but ensures our team better reflects the diversity of all our global communities. Our impact on talent in the industry can be seen through our NCC Group alumni. We are proud that they hold cyber security roles in leading businesses across the globe. And this year we launched our Alumni Network to maintain those connections and ensure an ongoing dialogue with those we are proud to have developed and supported in their cyber careers.
This was a year of continued progress for our delivery capabilities, our culture, our commitment to sustainability and our ability to attract, develop and retain the best talent from across the globe. In doing so, creating greater value for our customers – from embracing cloud transformation to improving their overall security posture, we are operating at various points of the customers’ value chains, from design to end users. It was a year where the decisions previously taken by the business showed their value. Those decisions centring around a global delivery model, investment in systems, continued development of our resilience propositions and the acquisition of IPM enabled the Group to deliver strong revenue growth of 17.9% at constant currency 1 (16.4% at actual rates) and 10.3% at constant currency 1 on an organic basis (revenue excluding IPM acquisition) (+8.9% actual rates), with a strong platform for continued double-digit revenue growth in FY23. While there remain challenges to overcome, the Group has never been better positioned to realise its vision – to be the leading cyber resilience provider globally. We have created strong foundations and momentum, evidenced by the c.15% growth we saw in the second half of the financial year for Assurance and c.2% growth for Software Resilience. This propelled us forward and we enter this next phase of NCC Group’s growth story with our new CEO, Mike Maddison. We are excited for the future of NCC Group.
1 S ee Note 3 for an explanation of Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) and adjusting items. Further information is also contained within the Chief Financial Officer’s Review and the Glossary of terms on pages 56 to 63 and 203 and 204 respectively. 2 T he EU region includes our Dutch and Danish business. During FY23, the Danish business will be reported and managed under the UK and APAC division.
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