Independent security assurance

Assurance somebody actually checked

Westmark Assurance assesses organisations and premises against published security standards. We look at what you actually do, check the evidence ourselves, and put the result on a public register where anyone can see it.

Talk to us about an assessment Verify a mark on the register

Assessments open October 2026. Enquiries and scoping are open now.

Buchanan Street, Glasgow. Jason Briscoe on Unsplash.

What Westmark is

Westmark is an independent security assurance service, operated by Ross Macdonald Consultancy Ltd and opening for assessments in October 2026. It exists to give buyers, regulators and the public a judgement about an organisation's security that was made by somebody other than the organisation itself.

What an assessment involves

Scope agreed in writing
What is being assessed, against which standard, and what it will cost. Nothing is signed until both are settled.
Examined by an authorised assessor
Records, delivery evidence, observation on site and interviews with the people doing the work.
Scored against a published standard
Every requirement is public before you commit. Full marks need evidence from more than one independent source.
Reviewed by a second person
Somebody independent of the assessment confirms the record or sends it back, before anything is issued.

Help getting ready

An introduction to a Licensed Partner, a consultancy Westmark has approved, whenever you want help before or between assessments
Their consultants work alongside your people, so the arrangements are built around what you actually do and belong to you
Kept separate from the judgement: your assessor is always independent of your partner, and the hub enforces that

What you receive

An entry on the public register showing scope, dates and current standing
A scoring report with a confidence level, so a reader knows how good the evidence was
Improvement actions where a requirement fell short, with a timetable to close them
Wording you are licensed to use when you claim the mark, and the rules for using it
Twenty-four months of validity, with an annual declaration at twelve

Westmark is an independent scheme owner. An outcome is Westmark's own judgement, separate from any government, MOD, SIA or Home Office approval.

The two marks

Suppliers to defence and government are expected to work to Secure by Design, and premises will carry duties under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. Westmark runs one mark for each, so both can show an independent judgement of where they stand. Both marks use the same method and the same independence rules.

Westmark Defence Supplier Mark

ForOrganisations delivering into the Ministry of Defence, government and government-aligned contracts, from a sole director upwards
ExaminesHow security risk is handled on the work you actually deliver
ScopesOperational, Cyber, or both
Standard54 requirements across seven sections

See the scheme

Westmark Protected Premises Mark

ForResponsible persons under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025
ExaminesPublic protection procedures and measures, on site, before the duty commences
TiersStandard and enhanced duty premises, and qualifying events
Standard20 requirements applied the same way at every premises

See the scheme

Why a Westmark mark holds up

A mark is only worth what the assessment behind it was worth. Four rules apply to every assessment under either scheme, and they are the reason a buyer or a regulator can rely on the outcome. Why these schemes exist sets out the gap in more detail.

How evidence is judged

Corroborated before it scores. Full marks need evidence from more than one independent source. A procedure and the checklist from it count as one
Records from the work itself. The evidence that scores is what you generated while delivering the work

How the judgement is protected

Your people, on their own. Delivery staff are interviewed on their own, unless the worker asks otherwise. What they describe unprompted is evidence in its own right
Reviewed before issue. A second authorised person, independent of the assessment, confirms the record or sends it back

Want help before you commit? Tell us what you deliver and we will introduce a Licensed Partner. Ask us to introduce a partner How the partner arrangement works

Where to start

The schemes are the same whoever you are. The route in depends on why you are here.

Suppliers and premises
Tell us what you deliver or what premises you hold, and roughly when you need the outcome. Scope and fee are settled in writing before anything is signed.
Make an enquiry
Councils and local authorities
One duty repeated across every building you hold. Licence the assessment tool so your own officers work through your own buildings on one control set, for one annual fee.
How the duty lands
Been shown a Westmark mark?
Every mark we issue sits on the register with its scope, its dates and its current standing. Check the register before relying on any claim.
Check the register
Commissioning parties
Where Westmark has sent you a disclosure link and a separate six-digit code, the outcome, scope, confidence level and any improvement actions open in the hub.
Open a disclosure
Supplying government?
Six free guides on protecting OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE information, covering central government and MOD work, with a companion framework for devices. Nothing to fill in first.
Read the free guidance
Assessors and partners
Authorised Assessors carry out the assessments. Licensed Partners advise organisations on getting ready. The two roles are kept apart.
Working with Westmark