Independent IT and cyber leadership.
No vendor agenda.
No junior consultants.

Most SMEs do not have an IT problem.
They have a clarity problem.

After more than two decades working in managed IT services building and running MSP operations, leading commercial teams and managing multi-million pound client contracts Carl Spencer saw the same pattern repeat itself consistently.

Business leaders were paying for IT support but not receiving IT leadership. Their managed service provider was keeping the lights on but nobody was asking the harder questions. Is the technology actually right for where the business is going? Is the supplier genuinely accountable? Is the risk properly understood at board level? Is the spend actually justified?

The people best placed to answer those questions the MSPs themselves had a commercial conflict of interest that made honest answers unlikely. And the businesses themselves rarely had anyone with the technical seniority to ask them effectively.

Northstar was founded to fill that gap. Independent, vendor-neutral IT and cyber leadership for UK SMEs without the cost of a full-time IT Director, and without the conflict of interest that comes with a supplier relationship.

27 years on both sides
of the relationship.

Carl's career spans over 27 years across IT services, managed services, telecoms and commercial technology leadership. Before founding Northstar he spent nearly a decade at Network Fish a UK managed IT services provider where he served as both Global Sales Director and Managing Director, leading strategy, revenue growth and the delivery of complex, multi-million pound client engagements.

That experience running an MSP, managing the commercial relationships, understanding how suppliers think and what drives their decisions is the foundation of Northstar's advisory approach. Carl understands the managed services industry from the inside. That means he understands exactly what to look for, what to challenge and what good performance actually looks like.

What makes Northstar
different in practice.

There is no shortage of IT consultants. What is genuinely rare is an IT advisor who combines senior commercial experience, deep knowledge of the managed services industry, and a complete absence of vendor interest.

Every Northstar engagement is led by Carl personally. There are no junior consultants, no subcontractors, no standardised frameworks applied regardless of the client's situation. The advice you receive reflects Carl's direct assessment of your specific business not a product to be sold or a certification to be pursued for its own sake.

Built for UK SMEs
at a specific stage.

Northstar works with UK SMEs typically businesses of 15 to 150 people where the leadership team has outgrown informal IT management but does not yet justify a full-time IT Director.

The typical client is a founder, MD, CFO or COO who is intellectually engaged with the IT and cyber questions facing their business but lacks the technical depth or the time to address them adequately. They are paying significant amounts for IT and are not confident they are getting the right value, the right protection or the right advice.

Northstar works nationally across the UK, with clients in professional services, financial services, technology, healthcare, logistics and a range of other sectors. Every engagement starts with an honest conversation about whether independent IT advisory is the right fit for the business's specific situation.

Carl is based in Kent and works regularly with businesses across Kent, London and the South East. For businesses in Kent looking for a fractional IT director, or London-based SMEs seeking independent IT and cyber leadership, Northstar provides the senior, vendor-neutral oversight that most growing businesses need but rarely have in place. Remote and hybrid engagement means geography is rarely a barrier for businesses elsewhere in the UK.