The CEO and founder of CyberNorth, Phil Jackman, has retired after a career in tech which has spanned four decades.
After years of dedication to the cybersecurity sector, ‘Mr Cyber’ leaves a legacy of innovation and growth in his mists.
He has been integral to the success of CyberNorth, having played a key part in raising awareness and opportunities for the sector in the region and on a national and international scale.
It was in 2018 when Jackman’s career took an unexpected turn which led to the formation of CyberNorth, a former Dynamo-backed organisation.
He began his career as an IT director at Spicers, where he spent 10 years before joining the North Tyneside Council as head of transformation and technology in 2003.
Eight years as the head of ICT services at Durham County Council followed this, a role which he served in conjunction with being chair of the NEICT, Socitm North East and a lecturer at Northumbria University.
He also spent nearly 10 years at Dynamo North East and eight years as director of consultancy firm Guerrilla Working.
“Today, everything has changed yet it has all stayed the same,” he wrote on his blog. “This is my first day of retirement yet life goes on around me. The sun has come out and all is good with the world. As if!
“I’ve still got plenty to do but there are no emails to reply to and no tasks to be completed, my infamous spreadsheet has decreased to near zero. I have come off Slack and signed out of our WhatsApp group.
“I have resigned as a director of CyberNorth and made my own company, Guerrilla Working, dormant. There is still some tidying up ahead but that is it, I am officially an old age pensioner.
“This is a day that I never thought would happen. A few years ago I dreaded the prospect of being out of work and having ‘nothing’ to do yet with some support and careful planning that is all behind me now.
“Ahead is a new future, filled with wonderful things to do, get involved in and learn. It’s not the end but the start of something new.
“I know it’s still very early days yet it all feels a little strange. Apart from my several obsessions, including blogging and Duolingo, I can set my own timetable yet I get the strange feeling that I should be doing something off my to do list.
“So many people have been so nice to me during the whole process. I find it hard to take such positive comments and find myself repeating the well worn phrase, ‘It was never about me’.
“Danielle (Phillips, who will take over at CyberNorth CEO) said to me, however, that if people want to say nice things about me then I should take it. I’ve said thank you a lot of times.
“Retirement is good so far. Getting money to do what you like is among the greatest luxuries in life.”
Jackman will take over as CEO of CyberNorth, which is said to be ‘excellently placed’ to grow further.
She added: “Phil’s legacy is one we want to remember and as such, we’ve created The Jackman Fund, a fund that will administer small grants to young people, career changers, veterans and career returners looking to get into cyber security.
“This fund will be used to give small bursaries to people, whether that be funding certifications or helping to buy a suit for an interview, it’s really about giving people their first leg up into the world of cyber security, and this is something very close to Phil’s heart.
“Phil has been the beating heart of CyberNorth for the last 8 years and his reputation in the sector is second to none, it’s Phil’s ethos, connections and energising spirit that have opened doors for the region, creating a safe, secure and sustainable business model in CyberNorth.
“As Phil retires, he will be sadly missed, and we absolutely value him from the bottom of our hearts – he was always there whenever anyone needed him and having that bedrock in our community has been so valuable – an array of businesses exists in the cyber security community because he believed in them, he really did have the ‘The Jackman effect’.”
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