COMPANY
Swizzels Matlow
BUSINESS SIZE
Medium
INDUSTRY
Consumer Brands
Introduction
For almost a century, Swizzels Matlow has produced some of the UK’s bestloved sweets, including Refreshers, Love Hearts and Drumsticks. Behind the scenes, the company’s IT and operational technology environments play a vital role in keeping production running securely and reliably. Leading that responsibility is Allan Unsworth, who oversees the business’s IT systems and services alongside the wider security and resilience of its operations.
“Our role is to make sure Swizzels Matlow’s IT and OT operations remain secure, usable and reliable. While we’d never experienced a cyber incident ourselves, we were very aware that other manufacturers had. We didn’t want to wait for something to happen before taking action.”
Allan Unsworth
Head of I.T. (Systems and Services) at Swizzels Matlow
Identifying the challenge
Like many manufacturers, Swizzels Matlow recognised that cyber security awareness needed to go beyond annual training exercises and simulated phishing emails. Employees were already familiar with the basics, but Allan and his team wanted to build stronger day-to-day awareness around the real scenarios staff encounter in their roles.
“We felt it was important to help educate colleagues around the potentially risky situations they face every day,” says Allan. “Traditional awareness training often felt too heavy, too time-consuming and, in some cases, disconnected from people’s actual roles.”
Feedback from users reinforced that concern. Existing training approaches were seen as overly staged and lacking realism, which reduced engagement and made it harder for employees to see the practical value.
Finding the right solution
Swizzels Matlow turned to Morgan Cyber Solutions, a trusted IT partner the business had worked closely with for several years. The brief was clear. Swizzels Matlow needed a solution that could:
Address the wider spectrum of modern human risk, not just phishing simulations
Deliver regular, ongoing learning instead of one-off training sessions
Feel relevant, timely and practical for users across the business
“We have a very close relationship with Morgan Cyber,” Allan says. “When they introduced Redflags, we took the time to understand why they believed it was the right fit for us.”
The moment Redflags stood out
What immediately differentiated Redflags was its ability to deliver security awareness in real time, within employees’ everyday workflows.
“As soon as we saw the real-time nudges operating in a live environment, we were interested,” Allan explains.“ Once we saw the range of scenarios the nudges could cover, and how easily we could relate them to our business, we were convinced.”
Rather than relying on lengthy training sessions, Redflags enabled Swizzels Matlow to introduce short, relevant interventions at the exact moment users needed them.
“The nudges have genuinely encouraged people across the business to pause and think,” says Allan Unsworth. “That’s made a real difference to engagement.”
Delivering the right message at the right time
The flexibility of the platform quickly became a major advantage for the team. Campaigns could be created and delivered rapidly, whether targeted at individual departments or rolled out company-wide.
“The short, sharp and highly relevant content we’re now creating can be delivered in minutes,” Allan Unsworth says. “That’s allowed us to keep security awareness consistent without overwhelming users.”
Reporting also provided clear visibility into behavioural change across the organisation. Employees who previously hadn’t recognised certain risky behaviours were now actively engaging with security messaging and responding more confidently.
A standout campaign: using AI safely
One campaign in particular demonstrated the value of timely, contextual awareness training.
Like many organisations, Swizzels Matlow had seen growing use of AI platforms across the business. Before implementing Redflags, guidance around safe AI usage
was largely limited to reminder emails encouraging caution when uploading sensitive information.
“The reality is that everybody is using AI in some form,” Allan explains. “Before Redflags, our ability to educate users on safe AI usage was fairly limited.”
Using Redflags, the team introduced a simple but effective real-time prompt that appeared when users interacted with AI platforms, asking whether commercially sensitive data was included in their prompt.
“The AI campaign takes less than ten minutes to create,” says Allan. “It’s powerful because it’s relevant and timely. People see the message exactly when they need it.”
“The reality is that everybody is using AI in some form,” Allan explains. “Before Redflags, our ability to educate users on safe AI usage was fairly limited.”
%
Campaign engagement in just two days of campaign launch
%
Increase of overall engagement as of the release of this case study
%
Reduction in unfamiliar link clicks
Results and impact
Since implementing Redflags, Swizzels Matlow has been able to strengthen employee awareness without increasing pressure on internal resources. Security communication has become more consistent, more relevant and easier for users to engage with in their day-to-day work.
The organisation now has:
More effective and continuous security awareness activity
Improved visibility into user behaviour and risk awareness
Closing thoughts
“We’re grateful firstly to Morgan Cyber Solutions for the introduction, and to Redflags for helping accelerate the effectiveness of our human risk management,” Allan Unsworth says. “I’ve no hesitation in recommending this partnership based on what we’re now achieving without increasing overall resources.”
About Swizzels Matlow
Swizzels Matlow is the UK’s largest independent sweet manufacturer, producing a range of iconic confectionery brands including Refreshers, Love Hearts, Parma Violets and Drumsticks. Founded in 1928, the company continues to manufacture its products in the UK while supplying retailers and consumers across the country and internationally.
