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 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 listed on the public IASME directory.
• 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.
• Procurement eligibility for government tenders, NHS supplier frameworks, and enterprise-client due diligence.
• Compliance evidence that the customer may choose to share with an insurer, broker, or underwriter; the recipient decides any insurance outcome.

Not especially. The five controls - firewalls, secure configuration, user access, malware protection, and patching - are routine IT-hygiene steps that most competently-run small businesses already meet. Common early-failure points are:

• Home-office routers still on factory default admin credentials for staff who work from home (see remote and hybrid workforces).
• Phones on out-of-support Android or older iOS.
• One account used for both admin and daily email.

A free readiness check takes under 10 minutes and flags any issues before you pay.

With Fig Group's 6-hour turnaround guarantee on compliant submissions, a well-prepared micro business can go from "buy the assessment" to "certificate in inbox" inside the same working day. Most of the time for a small organisation is spent completing the questionnaire (typically 60-90 minutes).

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 does not provide or arrange it.

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