IT for financial services firms in Hampshire
Financial services businesses sit under a level of scrutiny that few other sectors face. Whether you are an IFA, a wealth manager, an accountancy practice handling client money, a mortgage broker or a small fund administrator, your technology has to do more than simply work, it has to be secure, resilient and demonstrably under control.
Chronos Solutions provides managed IT, cyber security and UK-hosted cloud services to finance SMEs across Hook, Odiham, Basingstoke, Fleet and Farnham, with remote support UK-wide. We have supported Hampshire businesses since 2012, and we understand that for a regulated firm, “good enough” IT is a compliance risk as much as a productivity one.
A note on scope: Chronos is an IT services provider, not a compliance consultancy, and we are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The regulatory context below is general industry framing to help you brief us accurately, your own compliance function or adviser remains responsible for interpreting how the rules apply to your firm.
The IT challenges facing finance SMEs
Smaller financial firms carry the same obligations as large institutions but rarely have an in-house IT team to meet them. The pressure points we see most often are:
- Regulatory expectation. The FCA expects firms to maintain adequate systems and controls. Technology decisions are no longer purely operational, they are part of how you demonstrate good governance.
- Sensitive data at scale. Client identities, financial positions, transaction histories and KYC documentation are exactly the data that attackers, and regulators, care about most. A breach is both a security incident and a reportable event.
- Operational resilience. Regulated firms are expected to keep important business services running through disruption, and to recover quickly when they cannot. Unplanned downtime is not just lost billable time; it can be a resilience failure.
- The cost of an outage. For an advice or transaction business, an hour offline during market hours, a client review or a tax deadline has a direct and measurable cost.
- Supply-chain and third-party risk. Your IT provider is itself a third party in your control framework. You need a supplier who can evidence their own security posture, not add to your risk.
The regulatory context (general framing)
These are the frameworks finance firms most often need their IT to support. We design and run technology with them in mind; we do not advise on how they apply to you.
FCA systems and controls (SYSC)
The Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls sourcebook expects firms to have appropriate systems, record-keeping and risk management. Reliable, well-documented IT and retained records underpin this.
Operational resilience
FCA and PRA rules require in-scope firms to identify important business services, set impact tolerances and be able to remain within them through severe-but-plausible disruption. Backup, failover, tested recovery and continuity planning are the technical foundations.
UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018
Article 32 requires “appropriate technical and organisational measures” to secure personal data, including encryption, access control, resilience and the ability to restore data after an incident. This is a generic legal requirement on any data controller, not a Chronos-specific claim.
Breach and incident reporting
Personal data breaches may need to be reported to the ICO within 72 hours, and serious operational or security incidents may be reportable to the FCA. Good monitoring, logging and response capability make that achievable rather than chaotic.
How these obligations apply to your specific permissions and business model is a matter for your compliance function. Our role is to make sure your technology can support whatever standard you are held to.
We are not your compliance or legal adviser. The frameworks above are general industry context, your own compliance function remains responsible for interpreting how they apply to your firm.
How our services map to your needs
We do not sell a single “finance package”. We bring together the same core services we run for every client, configured for the controls and resilience a regulated firm expects.
- Managed IT Services, fully managed, fixed-rate support with proactive monitoring, patching and SLA-backed response, so day-to-day issues are resolved quickly and your systems stay current and documented.
- Cyber Security & Threat Management, layered endpoint and email protection, threat detection and response, and access controls aligned to UK GDPR Article 32, the defences that protect client data and support breach prevention and reporting.
- Private Cloud (PCaaS), a dedicated, UK-hosted private cloud giving you control over where regulated data sits, with backup, failover and tested recovery built in to support operational resilience.
- IT Asset Management, for complete control and audit-readiness of your devices, software and licences, maintaining a defensible inventory across the whole hardware lifecycle.
Working with a supplier you can evidence
Because your IT provider forms part of your own control environment, it matters that we can show what we do and how. We document our work, keep change records, and can provide the information your compliance reviews and PI insurers tend to ask for.
We are a Microsoft Cloud Partner and work with Sophos, Lenovo, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and ConnectWise. These are technology partnerships that shape the tools we deploy, they are not security accreditations or a substitute for them.
These are technology partnerships, not security accreditations.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chronos Solutions regulated by the FCA?
No. We are an IT services provider, not a regulated financial firm or a compliance consultancy. We design and run technology that supports your regulatory obligations, but responsibility for FCA compliance and for interpreting the rules remains with your firm.
Can you help us meet operational resilience requirements?
We provide the technical foundations, backup, failover, tested recovery and continuity capability through our Private Cloud and managed services, that underpin operational resilience. Identifying your important business services and setting impact tolerances is a governance task for your firm; we make sure the technology can keep them running.
How do you help protect sensitive client data?
Through layered cyber security: endpoint and email protection, threat detection and response, encryption and access controls, aligned to the “appropriate technical and organisational measures” UK GDPR Article 32 requires. See our Cyber Security & Threat Management page for detail.
Where is our data hosted?
Our Private Cloud (PCaaS) platform is UK-hosted, giving you clarity and control over where regulated data sits, often a key consideration for financial firms. We will confirm the specifics that apply to your environment before you commit.
Do you support firms outside Hampshire?
Yes. We are based in Odiham and serve finance businesses across Hook, Basingstoke, Fleet and Farnham in person, with remote managed support available UK-wide.
Can you provide the documentation our compliance reviews and PI insurers ask for?
Yes. We keep records of our configurations and changes and can supply information about the controls and processes we operate, to support your own due diligence, audits and insurance requirements.
What does a free IT assessment involve?
A no-obligation review of your current systems, security posture and resilience, ending in a clear summary of the practical risks and opportunities we find. Call 01256 241000 to arrange one.
IT that stands up to the scrutiny your sector attracts
If you run a finance SME in Hampshire, we would like to understand your setup. A free assessment is a straightforward conversation about your systems, your risks and where the practical gaps are, with no obligation.