Trust Centre
Written for procurement teams, risk functions and public sector buyers: what Rossnet is, what it is qualified to do, what it has delivered, and how its commercial relationships work.
Who you would be contracting with
Rossnet Consultancy Limited is a UK-registered independent advisory practice, incorporated in 2020 and based in Torquay, Devon. It is independently owned and operated, with no external investors and no parent organisation.
Work is delivered across the UK, with a client base spanning private sector organisations, public sector bodies, and policing. Where an engagement requires specialist capability beyond the practice, it is brought in through a named partner rather than subcontracted anonymously — see Partner Ecosystem below.
- Legal nameRossnet Consultancy Limited
- Company no.12866659, registered in England and Wales
- ICORegistered as a data controller, ZA922673
- Incorporated2020
- OwnershipIndependent; no external investors or parent
- LocationTorquay, Devon — delivering UK-wide
Independently assessed, not self-declared
Every credential below is awarded and maintained by an external professional or academic body.
Dr Joseph Ross — Founder & Principal Adviser
- PhDDigital Transformation & Artificial Intelligence
- CITPChartered IT Professional, BCS — assessed against professional competence
- FBCSFellow of the British Computer Society — assessed against contribution to the profession
- BEng (Hons)Electronic Engineering
- PGCEComputer Science — qualified teacher, England and Wales
- CISMPInformation Security Management, BCS / ISEB
The wider practice
- Emma MossBA MA RITTech MBCS — Associate Consultant. Completing ISO 42001 Lead Implementer certification.
- Steve ShepherdFBCS — Associate. Retired Police Sergeant (Devon & Cornwall, 24 years) and former Director of the South West Cyber Resilience Centre.
- Andie RossAAT ATT CTA — Company Secretary. Qualified tax adviser providing financial and company secretarial oversight.
Academic standing is current, not historical: Rossnet's Founder teaches from secondary through to Master's level and supervises doctoral research in cyber statecraft, grey zone operations and quantum resilience.
What Rossnet is engaged to do
Six areas, engaged independently or combined into a single programme. Smaller organisations usually meet these as the two service areas on the home page; this is the full picture.
AI Sovereignty, Governance, Assessment & Assurance
Governance frameworks, management systems, risk and impact assessment, and independent assurance for regulated and sensitive use cases. Includes fractional AI leadership at board level.
AI and Automation Solution Architecture & Engineering
Bespoke build against a defined problem, including sovereign and edge deployment where data cannot leave the client environment. Full engineering lifecycle with version control and testing.
AI Adoption, Training & Capability Development
Deployment of commercial AI tooling paired with the capability to use it. Delivered by a qualified teacher with experience from secondary through to Master's level.
Digital Transformation
Data readiness, digital modelling, optimisation and IoT. Grounded in operational research and computational intelligence — digital twins, multi-objective optimisation, and the data engineering that has to precede either.
Cyber Resilience
Risk assessment, framework-aligned assurance, and remediation planning. Informed by direct experience of policing and of running a regional Cyber Resilience Centre.
Quantum Resilience
Cryptographic inventory, "harvest now, decrypt later" exposure, and post-quantum migration planning against the NCSC's 2028 / 2031 / 2035 national timeline.
Where Rossnet brings others in. Solutions are built from a systems engineering and applied research background. Before anything moves from proof of concept into a production-critical setting, specialist DevSecOps capability is brought to the table rather than assumed. That is a deliberate boundary, and it is why the partner ecosystem below exists.
The advice is backed by published work
Rossnet's advisory positions are grounded in doctoral research and in multiple peer-reviewed, internationally published outputs. Subject areas include digitisation, computational intelligence, and shadow AI governance.
The practice also maintains an active academic role, supervising doctoral research into cyber statecraft, grey zone operations, and quantum resilience — which is one reason its position on post-quantum migration is grounded in the published national timeline rather than vendor messaging.
Why this matters commercially. An adviser who publishes has their reasoning reviewed by people with no commercial interest in the answer. For a buyer assessing whether advice is independent, that is a materially different signal from a vendor white paper.
Named partners, disclosed by relationship type
Where an engagement needs capability beyond the practice, it is brought in through a named partner. Each relationship is categorised below, and the commercial nature of each category is set out in Independence.
Strategic partnerships
- RT ConsultingGovernment and large enterprise engagements; complementary programme management and technology delivery.
- ThirtyNine CyberSpecialist cyber security practice. Rossnet supports them on AI governance and AI-related cyber risk.
- Inspiring JoeOnline safety, cyber resilience and OSINT. Founded by Steve Shepherd, who is also a Rossnet Associate — a related-party relationship, disclosed here and on the About page.
Technology partnerships
- HornetsecurityReseller — cloud email security and Microsoft 365 protection.
- HexiosecReseller — cyber resilience and security technology.
- MicrosoftCloud AI Partner — access to Microsoft's AI and cloud portfolio.
- Infinigate CloudReseller — cloud security distribution.
How Rossnet manages commercial relationships.
Rossnet is independently owned and operated, with no external investors or parent organisation. Alongside its own advisory and delivery work, Rossnet maintains a small number of Strategic and Technology partnerships — see Partner Ecosystem above for the full list, each disclosed by relationship type. Some of these, Rossnet's reseller relationships, include commercial margin on products sold.
Recommendations are made on technical fit for the client's circumstances, not on which relationship is most commercially advantageous to Rossnet. No client is required to purchase through any of Rossnet's partner or reseller relationships, and any commercial interest relevant to a specific recommendation is disclosed as part of that engagement.
What your procurement team will need
Rossnet is a small practice and does not publish a full evidence pack. Everything below is provided on request, usually within two working days.
Insurance
Professional indemnity and public liability insurance certificates are provided on request, with cover levels confirmed in writing before contract.
Data protection
Registered with the ICO as a data controller under ZA922673. Data processing terms, retention periods and sub-processor arrangements are agreed per engagement.
Security clearance
Clearance status is confirmed directly to the sponsoring organisation rather than published.
Request the evidence pack. Email [email protected] stating what your process requires and we will send what we hold, and tell you plainly where something does not exist rather than implying that it does.
Ask for what you need
If your process needs something not covered here, ask. A straight answer, including "we do not hold that", is more useful to you than a brochure.