A NORTH-EAST entrepreneur could be celebrating success this month after being nominated for an award showcasing the success of military veterans in their second careers.

Michael McCabe, 38, from Spennymoor, served in the Intelligence Corps in Iraq until leaving the forces in 2009. After taking on roles in the private intelligence and security sector, Mr McCabe founded the threat intelligence company, Intelligence Fusion, in late 2014.

And it is in his role at Intelligence Fusion, based in Aykley Heads, Durham, that has led to Mr McCabe being nominated for the Innovator of the Year award at this year’s British Ex-Forces in Business Awards, taking place in an awards ceremony in London on June 23.

The firm employs a team of intelligence analysts who’ve been trained to military principles to log incidents from across the globe.

The company provides clients in the security sector with real-time alerts and historical data, trends and patterns, on incidents ranging from criminality, terrorism and conflict, to protests, travel disruption and hazards such as disease outbreaks.

As more of the information surrounding an incident is logged, the firm can then combine it and identify a pattern of intelligence, such as a sequence of events, threat level or profile of a group.

Mr McCabe said: “The level of intelligence and situational awareness that we provide our clients is the sort of data we would require in my experience in the British Army. Coming out of the military and into the private sector I was amazed that this sort of information just wasn’t commonly used in the security planning of private businesses.

"This is where I got the idea to create Intelligence Fusion, to provide that military-grade intelligence to the private sector, broken down and presented in a way that’s easy to understand and take action on.

"It’s a real privilege to have been nominated for the Innovator of the Year award. It’s great that there’s an initiative that highlights the transferable skills that veterans can bring to the world of business - it’s the skills and experience I gained in the Intelligence Corps, for example, that have allowed me to set up Intelligence Fusion, which now has 21 full-time employees, with further growth planned.”

The 2020 finalists were whittled down from a record-breaking 500 nominations, with the winners decided by a judging panel of military veterans headed up by Admiral Sir George Zambellas, former First Sea Lord and now chairman of several companies including Galaxkey.

Admiral Sir George Zambellas said: "In operational planning, UK military people are comfortable asking 'What's changed?', and then reacting accordingly. Those same honest qualities of analysis and agility are needed now, as we face changed business environments in the Covid era.

"So, I'm delighted that so many ex-forces men and women, who have chosen a life in business, have the cunning and resilience to succeed. I'm very proud to support them.”

For more information on Intelligence Fusion, visit www.intelligencefusion.co.uk. You can learn more about the awards at exforcesinbusiness.co.uk