Virtual classroom - Leading boards through disruption
Equipping boards to lead with confidence and resilience through cyber risk, crisis and change.
*New for 2026*

This 6-hour live virtual classroom is interactive and expert-led, featuring peer discussions and practical application throughout.

Session overview:
1. Welcome and objectives – setting the scene: governance trends, boardroom dynamics, and learning goals.
2. Enterprise risk management – how risk management fits within broader governance frameworks and control measures.
3. Operational resilience – identifying critical business services and ensuring continuity in line with stakeholder and regulatory expectations.
4. Cybersecurity oversight – understanding the threat landscape, assessing readiness, and leading confidently without needing to be technical.
5. Crisis management – planning for unpredictability, managing key phases of a crisis, and making effective board-level decisions.
6. Specialist insights: Beyond Blue – practical perspectives from Beyond Blue specialists, strengthening the real-world relevance of cyber and crisis resilience strategies
7. Latest developments – regulatory and market updates impacting resilience, cyber, and crisis oversight.
8. Wrap-up and action planning – key takeaways and practical next steps for your board.

Louis Cooper explains how our virtual classrooms help finance professionals turn their knowledge into confident, practical application.

Louis Cooper  Louis is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and has over 30 years’ experience in governance, risk and assurance services, in public practice where he has worked for all of the ‘Big 4’ Accounting firms and for 6 years was a partner at the UK top 10 audit firm Crowe Clark Whitehill (now Crowe UK), where he led the Risk & Assurance team. He provides a range of corporate governance consulting and advisory services and sits on the Quoted Companies Alliance ('QCA') Corporate Governance Expert Group and co-wrote the QCA Corporate Governance Code 2023. He acts as an Associate with three governance, risk and assurance consulting firms and is a regular speaker at governance related events, both in the UK and overseas. Louis was one of the founders of the Non-Executive Directors’ Association (‘NEDA’) – the members Association that was set up in 2006-7 to support the specific needs and demands of Non-Executive Directors and Trustees across all sectors and at each stage of their ‘life-cycle’. Louis was CEO for 10 years and led the NED and board training, education and advisory services. Louis acted as editor of the latest edition of the ‘NED Handbook’ (6th Edition - 2023) and helped to establish the Non-Executive Director Awards which celebrated 18 years in 2024.

David Ferbrashe An award-winning UK national cyber security and operational resilience expert. David is the Managing Director and founder of Beyond Blue. David’s career has included being the Global Head of Cyber Futures for KPMG; Director of Science and previous Head of Cyber and Space for the Ministry of Defence; and the chair of the Scottish National Cyber Resilience Advisory Board for the Scottish Ministers. David has operated at board and executive level helping organisations understand their threat environment, cyber risk and remediation actions. He has worked with clients to undertake comprehensive cyber risk reviews, to run board and executive level wargames, to develop cyber security strategies and transformation programmes, and to oversee high end red teaming and attack simulations to validate security. He was made an OBE for his contribution to national security post 9-11 as Deputy Director of Intelligence for MoD. David was awarded personality of the year in the 2018 at the Cyber Security Awards, European consultant of the year for the Business Continuity Institute in 2022 and 2025 Scottish Cyber Leader of the Year. He is a chartered cyber security professional and information technology practitioner and is a Fellow of the Institute for Information Security, the British Computer Society, and the Institute for Engineering and Technology.

Early Bird Pricing
15% discount automatically applied on bookings made up until 6 weeks before the course date

How are the courses delivered?

All Virtual Classrooms are run by live on Zoom. These are interactive and not recorded, interaction and delegate involvement is encouraged.

When will I receive joining instructions?

You will receive a email with joining instructions after enrolling. Materials and any other resources for the course will be sent to you shortly before the course start date.

Are there breaks?

Yes, no fixed timings - will depend on the length of the course.

How do I access the course slide deck?

Depending on the course you will either be sent in the lead up to the course or after.

What if I miss the live date?

The Virtual Classrooms are not recorded so we recommend you attend all sessions.

What if I am going to be 15 minutes late?

This is not a problem, the classroom starts at the start time, but you will be let in if you are delayed for any reason. Trainers do their best to accommodate catch-up, but this is not guaranteed. Where possible please let us know of any delays so we are aware when doing role call the beginning of the session.

Can I have my colleague with me in the live course?

Yes, if you purchase a second place. Each booking is valid for one person only.

Can I record the training?

No, virtual classrooms are not recorded.

Do the courses on this programme count as verifiable CPD?

Yes, these courses contribute verifiable CPD, so long as you can demonstrate that the content is relevant to your role. Additional information about CPD can be found here: Your guide to CPD.

How many people will be on the course?

Virtual Classrooms are designed to resemble a real classroom. Therefore, group sizes vary between 6 – 22 delegates per course.

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