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The Assurance Desk
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Bridewell review

Advisory firm

A UK cyber-security consultancy in Reading that says it has over 300 specialists. It also offers an outsourced DPO, privacy audits and EU AI Act assessments.

Relevant if you run critical infrastructure or a regulated business and want privacy help inside a security firm

Price Not published
Indemnity cover Not published
How it uses AI Not published
Facts last checked

Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages.

Bridewell scores

Six scores, each 1 to 5. The evidence for each is further down.

Help when things go wrong 3/5
Qualifications of the people who do the work 3/5
What it publishes about fees 1/5
Knowledge of your sector 4/5
Independence from what it sells 3/5
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5

What Bridewell offers, and what it publishes

You get an outsourced DPO, data mapping, privacy audits and ISO 27701 work from a security firm. It names privacy clients Buzzacott and HESA. A separate AI line offers frameworks aligned to ISO/IEC 42001 and an EU AI Act assessment. Its DPO page says it will help you notify the regulator within 72 hours of a breach.

Bridewell does not publish a price, retainer or day rate. It does not publish its indemnity cover or say how it uses AI itself. It lists privacy qualifications such as CIPP/E and CIPM across the firm, but names no individual privacy consultants. It does not name who issued its ISO certificates.

Privacy is one of five practice areas in a firm built around cyber security, managed security, penetration testing and incident response. It lists NCSC Assured Services and CREST, and says it holds ISO 27001 and 27701. It is a Microsoft partner and sells Microsoft Purview set-up alongside advice. We found no Trustpilot listing.

Strengths

  • Large, multi-accredited security practice: 300+ specialists with NCSC Assured Services and CREST listings
  • Named client case studies for its privacy work, including Buzzacott and HESA
  • DPO-as-a-service includes breach response with 72-hour regulator-notification support
  • Dedicated AI-governance services mapped to ISO/IEC 42001, NIST AI RMF and the EU AI Act

Things to check

  • Does not publish any prices, retainers or day rates for privacy or AI-governance work
  • No named privacy practitioners: certifications are listed firm-wide without individual names
  • Does not disclose professional indemnity cover or how the firm itself uses AI
  • Data privacy is one of five practice areas within a cyber-security-led firm rather than the core business

Common questions

Does Bridewell publish its prices?

No. Its data-privacy and DPO pages show no prices, retainers, day rates or worked examples. Work starts with an enquiry and scoping.

What accreditations does Bridewell list?

It lists NCSC Assured Services, CREST, Cyber Essentials Plus, PCI DSS QSA status, and ISO 27001, 27701, 9001 and 22301. The pages we checked do not name who issued the ISO certificates.

Does Bridewell cover the EU AI Act?

Yes. Its AI Regulatory & Compliance Assessment covers classifying high-risk AI systems under the EU AI Act, mapping obligations, a gap analysis and a plan to fix the gaps.

Evidence for each Bridewell score

Show our working

Notes behind each thing to check

  • Does not publish any prices, retainers or day rates for privacy or AI-governance work (No pricing found on bridewell.com/data-privacy or /dpo-as-a-service as of 2026-07-16)
  • No named privacy practitioners: certifications are listed firm-wide without individual names (bridewell.com/data-privacy lists CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP qualifications but names no individual privacy consultants as of 2026-07-16)
  • Does not disclose professional indemnity cover or how the firm itself uses AI (No PI or firm AI-use disclosure found on bridewell.com/privacy-policy, /about-us or /why-bridewell as of 2026-07-16)
  • Data privacy is one of five practice areas within a cyber-security-led firm rather than the core business (bridewell.com homepage positions the firm around cyber security, managed security, penetration testing and incident response, checked 2026-07-16)
Six criteria, each scored 1 to 5, with the evidence for each.
CriterionScoreEvidence
Help when things go wrong 3/5 Describes breach response with 72-hour regulator-notification support (bridewell.com/dpo-as-a-service) and holds CREST incident-response accreditation, but publishes no named privacy practitioners or ICO-engagement outcomes as of 2026-07-16
Qualifications of the people who do the work 3/5 Firm-wide IAPP qualifications (CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP) listed on bridewell.com/data-privacy, but no named individual privacy practitioners published there as of 2026-07-16
What it publishes about fees 1/5 No fee information, engagement model or worked examples published on bridewell.com/data-privacy or /dpo-as-a-service as of 2026-07-16
Knowledge of your sector 4/5 CNI-focused industry pages (aviation, energy, water, financial services) plus named sector case studies including HESA in higher education (bridewell.com, /data-privacy, checked 2026-07-16)
Independence from what it sells 3/5 Microsoft partnership (MISA member) disclosed and firm sells managed services and Microsoft Purview implementation alongside advice; the partner role within advisory work is not delineated (bridewell.com/why-bridewell, /data-privacy, 2026-07-16)
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5 Breach-response commitment including 72-hour regulator notification published (bridewell.com/dpo-as-a-service) but no PI cover or engagement liability terms disclosed as of 2026-07-16

Sources for Bridewell

  • Companies House registration: Bridewell Consulting Limited, company number 11101195, incorporated 7 December 2017 (named Bridewell Risk Consulting Limited until 17 January 2018), status Active, registered office Thames Tower, Station Road, Reading RG1 1LX (Companies House, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Service scope: Data-privacy services include DPO as a Service, GDPR gap analysis, GDPR data mapping, data privacy audit, ISO 27701 and ISO 27018 consultancy; separate AI-governance services include ISO/IEC 42001-aligned governance frameworks and an AI Regulatory & Compliance Assessment covering the EU AI Act and GDPR (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Pricing disclosure: Does not publish any prices, day rates or worked examples on its data-privacy or DPO-as-a-service pages as of 2026-07-16 (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Credentials: Data-privacy page lists staff certifications including CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, CIPP/US, IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP), BCS Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection and ISO 27701 Lead Implementer/Auditor, but does not name individual privacy practitioners on that page as of 2026-07-16 (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)
  • PI insurance / liability: Does not publish professional indemnity cover or engagement liability terms on its about, why-Bridewell, data-privacy or DPO pages as of 2026-07-16; the DPO-as-a-service page does commit to supporting regulator notification within 72 hours of a breach (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Independent accreditation: Lists NCSC Assured Services, CREST, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 27701, ISO 22301, Cyber Essentials Plus, IASME and PCI DSS QSA status; the certification bodies issuing its ISO certificates are not named on the pages checked as of 2026-07-16 (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Named client outcomes: Publishes named data-privacy case studies for Buzzacott (accountancy) and HESA (higher education DPO services); its AI Regulatory & Compliance Assessment page uses anonymised case studies (a UK government agency and a UK water company) (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)
  • AI-use disclosure: Privacy policy states Bridewell does not make automated decisions about or profile its clients or customers, but does not publish how the firm itself uses AI tools or an AI policy on its public website as of 2026-07-16 (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Scale (States it employs over 300 security specialists) (bridewell.com, checked 16 July 2026)

NCSC Assured Service Provider (listed on bridewell.com/why-bridewell) CREST accreditations (incident response, penetration testing, SOC) ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 9001, ISO 22301 (listed on bridewell.com/about-us; certifying body not named) Cyber Essentials Plus PCI DSS QSA company

First DPO or AI policySeeking ISO 42001 certificationAfter a breach or ICO contactExposed to the EU AI ActRegulated sectorsAfter a ransomware or security incident

Where this firm appears

If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.

This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.