Start-up director’s guest lecture gives students insight into growing hi-tech sector

The director of a Wrexham-based cybersecurity start-up has delivered a guest lecture to postgraduate business students at WGU and provided an insight into key issues in the sector.

Karl Hargrave, who heads up Security Foundry, a cybersecurity company based in Wrexham, was invited in to speak to students of the university’s MBA programme to give them an insight into the ways in which businesses are working to tackle the challenges of IT and Cyber security.

He shared examples of how better business outcomes can result from better cyber security – and the opportunities that this technology can provide. His lecture was one of a series delivered by businesspeople across the region which contribute to the MBA, giving students additional perspectives on the world of business.

He said: “I thought about what I could do to make my lecture as interesting as possible – but really, the answer is in the content itself. What I am trying to do is motivate and inspire my audience today to think about cybersecurity, particularly in our region, and to pursue it as a vocation.

“Cybersecurity is a growing area within the far larger IT technology sector and hopefully it will be an area which some of the students I speak to today will be interested in looking at when they graduate.

“That’s why I wanted to speak to students like those on Glyndwr’s MBA – to let them know our area needs talented cybersecurity personnel – and there could be opportunities for them.”

During his lecture, Karl spoke about setting up his business, about some of the clients he has across the region, and how he is building his firm’s reputation in a growing industry. He was thanked for his talk by Dr Jan Green, Reader in

Teaching Learning and Student Success at Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Dr Green – who was recently appointed a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy – added: “Hearing direct from industry professionals like

Karl really helps to shape our students’ knowledge of the contemporary business world. That’s why I’m always keen to bring in speakers from businesses across our region – speakers who can describe the changes, challenges and opportunities which our students will face.

“From risk evaluation to innovation, Karl’s talk emphasised a number of the

key themes our programme discusses – and applied them to his work in the region. I’d like to thank him very much for his talk.”

Find out more about Security Foundry here: https://www.securityfoundry.co.uk/ and more about Wrexham Glyndwr University’s MBA in Business Administration here: https://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/en/Postgraduatecourses/MBAMasterofBusinessAdministration/