Sitehop wins prestigious Spectator business award

Sitehop, the Sheffield-based cybersecurity specialist, has been recognised with a prestigious national accolade for its pioneering quantum-resistant encryption technology.
The deep-tech company was named regional Breakthrough winner at The Spectator magazine’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards 2025, in partnership with wealth management firm Rathbones.

Co-founders Melissa Chambers and Ben Harper attended the London ceremony, which was addressed by Spectator editor Michael Gove, the former Cabinet minister, and hosted by business editor Martin Vander Weyer.

The awards celebrate the passion and creativity of British entrepreneurs, with businesses from across the UK invited to showcase their remarkable achievements and contributions to the economy and society. A distinguished panel of judges led by Martin Vander Weyer selected outstanding smaller ‘Breakthrough’ and larger ‘Scale-up’ ventures in six regions.

Sitehop is aiming to redefine encryption for the next era of cybersecurity. As networks scale and post-quantum threats evolve, legacy encryption adds latency, drains energy, and slows performance. Sitehop’s hardware-powered encryption platform eliminates these bottlenecks, delivering ultra-low latency, seamless upgrades, and up to 90 per cent lower power consumption compared to software-based solutions.

The company’s technology is already trusted by Tier One telecommunications companies and critical infrastructure operators to secure data in motion with line-rate performance. The company recently became the first external firm granted access to BT’s flagship testing facility, earning BT’s Safe to Connect certification after successful trials proving quantum-resistant encryption at carrier scale.

Melissa Chambers, CEO and co-founder, said: “It feels special for a small team with big ambitions to have won this award. Every person at Sitehop has poured energy and belief into what we’re building. To be recognised on a national stage is a real honour and reflects the exceptional people at Sitehop – their talent, determination and belief that innovation should be both bold and meaningful.”

The company recently secured £7.5 million in funding led by Northern Gritstone, bringing total investment to £13.5 million.