Customer Story
Alliance Leisure
From reactive to proactive: How Alliance Leisure strengthened its cybersecurity posture
Background
Alliance Leisure is the UK’s leading leisure development partner, helping local authorities deliver leisure, sport, recreation and cultural facilities for their communities.
From multi-million-pound leisure centres to smaller community projects, Alliance Leisure manages every stage of development, from concept and planning through to delivery.
With a growing business, expanding revenues and increasing visibility in the market, the leadership team recognised that cybersecurity needed to evolve alongside the organisation.
Working with CloudClevr, Alliance Leisure transformed cybersecurity from an operational consideration into an ongoing business priority, giving leadership greater confidence, improving employee awareness and implementing proactive protection across the organisation.
The challenge
For many years, CloudClevr had supported Alliance Leisure’s IT environment. However, like many growing organisations, cybersecurity had largely been approached reactively.
Without a dedicated internal IT resource, responsibility for technology and security fell to John Leaver, Marketing & Frameworks Director, along with other business responsibilities.
At the same time, high-profile cyberattacks dominated headlines, and discussions about cyber insurance prompted a broader conversation about risk. As Alliance Leisure evaluated cyber insurance options, leadership began asking a different question:
Rather than preparing for the financial consequences of an attack, how could they reduce the likelihood of one happening in the first place?
“Cyber insurance would have helped us recover from an attack, but we wanted to focus on preventing one in the first place,” says John.
They commissioned an independent cyber maturity assessment to provide an objective view of the organisation’s security posture and identify opportunities for improvement. The results highlighted several areas where security could be strengthened, including backup coverage, endpoint protection, proactive threat monitoring and user awareness. More importantly, it provided a clear roadmap for improvement.
Building a security roadmap
Following the assessment, Alliance Leisure worked closely with CloudClevr to translate recommendations into a practical roadmap and guide the business through each stage of implementation.
Together, they developed a structured security improvement plan that included:
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) with Huntress
- Barracuda email protection
- Phishing simulation campaigns
- Ongoing cybersecurity awareness training
- Enhanced monitoring and threat detection capabilities
- Improved backup coverage across critical Microsoft 365 services
The focus was not simply on deploying new tools, but on helping the business understand what each measure delivered and why it mattered.
“One of the things CloudClevr did really well was explain everything in a way that made sense. I didn’t need to become a cybersecurity expert overnight. They helped me understand the risks, the solutions and why each investment mattered.”
Regular account reviews became a key part of that relationship, providing visibility into ongoing projects, security improvements and future priorities.
“That’s the key to the relationship for me. We meet regularly, I get updates on what’s happening, who’s doing what, and where we’re up to. Following the maturity assessment, CloudClevr helped us work through the recommendations, close the gaps, and move the projects forward. I can’t imagine stepping away from them now.”
Discovering the gaps before attackers did
“I assumed Cyber Essentials Plus meant everything was taken care of. The assessment showed that it wasn’t the case. There were still gaps in our backups, endpoint protection and device management that needed addressing,” adds John.
Creating a more security-aware culture
Technology was only part of the solution.
The assessment identified employee awareness as one of the most important areas for improvement, leading to the introduction of regular phishing simulations and cybersecurity training.
Today, cybersecurity is no longer viewed as a technical issue sitting in the background. It has become part of everyday business conversations.
“Cybersecurity is now part of our culture. It’s discussed in board meetings, department meetings and team conversations. The phishing exercises and training keep it front of mind and remind everyone that security is a shared responsibility.”
The organisation now combines formal annual training with regular awareness reminders and phishing exercises that reinforce good security habits throughout the year.
Greater confidence through proactive protection
For Alliance Leisure, one of the biggest benefits has been confidence.
Security controls now operate proactively rather than reactively, providing visibility into threats before they become incidents.
Leadership teams can see evidence of the protections in place, understand the value being delivered, and demonstrate progress to the board.
“Previously, cybersecurity felt like something happening in the background. Today, we can see what’s being monitored, what threats are being blocked and what protections are working. That visibility gives the board far greater confidence.”
Importantly, stronger security has been achieved without creating friction for employees.
Supporting growth with confidence
As Alliance Leisure continues to grow, cybersecurity has become an important part of supporting that growth strategy.
Rather than waiting for an incident to expose weaknesses, the organisation now has greater visibility, stronger controls and a clear plan for ongoing improvement.
The relationship with CloudClevr has evolved beyond day-to-day IT support into a strategic partnership focused on reducing risk, improving resilience and supporting future growth.
“We’re in a much stronger position than we were before. Things are being monitored proactively, the team is more aware of security risks, and we have confidence that the right protections are in place as the business continues to grow.”
Looking ahead
Alliance Leisure’s focus now is on building greater reporting and governance around cybersecurity, ensuring leadership teams continue to have clear visibility into risk, performance and ongoing improvements.
With the right foundations in place, cybersecurity has moved from being a reactive concern to becoming a measurable business capability.