A messaging service that replaces Teams, Slack or other proprietary tools when they go down. It runs on a server inside your own organisation — set it up, then switch it off, until the day you need it.
Parliament's own security committee says it can no longer rule out UK infrastructure being deliberately targeted — and isn't confident the UK could recover in time.
Fig. 1 — How apps use international connectivity
Ordinary day. Teams, Slack, sign-in, SSL and DNS all cross the same subsea cables to reach servers abroad — riding the labelled route.
How it works
Built to stay up when everything else goes down.
Five things that make it different from an always-on SaaS chat tool.
Dormant until you need it
Set up once, then switch it off.
It runs on a server inside your own organisation — configure it, then power it down when not testing to keep it free from any internal attacks.
Built to survive a cable cut
UK infrastructure, long-life certificates.
Sign-in, servers and certificates all stay on UK infrastructure, renewed well ahead of expiry — giving you a better chance of staying reachable if the UK's links abroad are cut.
Bring your suppliers in
Keep critical partners online too.
Share accounts with key external suppliers so you can keep talking to them even if their own systems are compromised or down.
Works without the internet too.
If the wider internet goes down entirely, the local server still handles messaging for anyone on the same local network.
In practice
Three ways this plays out.
Fig. 2 — Reaching a supplier
Scenario. Overseas routes cut. British internet stays up.
Problem. Email and other systems relying on SSO sign-in, overseas certificate issuance or DNS for all or part of their service go down.
Comms Kitchen fallback. Keeps you and a key supplier talking through the British internet.
Example use case. Your customers can't log in to your ordering system to place regular orders. You switch to communicating these orders through Comms Kitchen as a fallback, your customers logging in to your server.
Fig. 3 — Keeping your own sites in step
Scenario. Overseas routes cut. British internet stays up.
Problem. Internal messaging platforms using SSO (Teams, Slack, etc) can't get to their US auth server. No one can log in.
Comms Kitchen fallback. Provides a fallback chat app that can be quickly up and running as an alternative.
Example use case. Your teams use group chats to run projects day in day out. When your chat system fails, you switch to Comms Kitchen to enable them to maintain their productivity.
Fig. 4 — Running entirely on-site
Scenario. All internet is down.
Problem. No systems work. Maybe you can't access your data either.
Comms Kitchen fallback. Provide your team with logins in real time from an onsite physical help desk. Chat can be performed across the local network.
Example use case. A hospital. They find their systems down. Wards need to speak with phlebotomy and X-ray dept. to book in and receive results.
Why this matters
Teams, Slack and other proprietary tools carry the same risk.
Why Teams, Slack and proprietary chat tools might stop working
Microsoft Teams. Part of the Microsoft 365 stack, hosted on Azure's global network — the same dependency on international connectivity as everything else in that stack.
Slack. Runs on Salesforce's cloud infrastructure, spread across data centres abroad — sign-in and delivery both depend on links out of the UK.
Other proprietary tools. Most SaaS messaging platforms sign you in and store your data on servers outside the UK, with no local fallback if those links go down.
None of them were built to keep working if the UK's links abroad are cut, or if the internet goes down entirely. Read the full risk case →
Fig. 5 — Teams / Slack architecture
Every hop — sign-in, app, data — potentially lives or relies on oversees connectivity.
Fig. 6 — Comms Kitchen architecture
Local chat never leaves the building. The relay to another server is a UK-only extra, not a dependency.
Ordinary day. Both systems work — but SaaS messaging platforms like Teams, Slack and Email still route through servers abroad, even for two colleagues in the same building.
This isn't a replacement for SaaS messaging platforms like Teams, Slack and Email day to day — it's kept in reserve, ready for the one day you need it.
Set it up once. Switch it off. It's there the day you need it.
We'll write the moment Comms Kitchen opens, at founder pricing.
Parliament, 2025
What the committee actually found
The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy — Parliament's own cross-party security oversight committee — spent 2024–25 examining the roughly 60 subsea cables that carry 95–99% of the UK's international data. Its report concluded that the government could no longer rule out those cables being deliberately, hostilely targeted, and that it was not confident the UK could detect, prevent or recover from such an attack within an acceptable time. A related committee statement went further, describing the UK's current posture as "too timid" in defending the cables from attack.
Subsea telecommunications cables: resilience and crisis preparedness, Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, 2025. See also: the committee's news release.
