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

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

Carl Spencer is a fractional IT director for UK SMEs, providing independent IT and cyber leadership to business leaders who need senior oversight without the cost of a full-time hire. 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 founded Northstar to fix a problem he saw 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.

A track record,
not a pitch deck.

Northstar was not built on a business plan. It was built on 27 years of direct experience — working inside the managed services industry, running commercial operations, and leading the kinds of engagements that give you a clear-eyed view of where IT suppliers perform and where they fall short.

• Led and won multi-million pound managed IT contracts with complex enterprise clients across the UK
• Full P&L ownership as Managing Director of a UK MSP — responsible for strategy, service delivery, revenue growth and client retention
• Sat on both sides of the supplier relationship — as a commercial leader delivering services, and as a buyer of technology
• Built and led high-performing commercial teams in competitive IT and telecoms markets nationally
• Deep operational knowledge of how MSPs are run, how they price, and where the gaps between what they promise and what they deliver typically appear

Trusted by those
who have worked with Carl.

Northstar is a new business built on a long track record. The following are recommendations from colleagues and professional contacts who have worked with Carl directly over the course of his career.

Further recommendations are available on Carl’s LinkedIn profile. You can also read Carl’s thinking on IT, cyber risk and the SME landscape in the Insights section.

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. As a fractional IT director for UK SMEs, Carl provides the senior oversight these businesses need at a fraction of the cost of a permanent hire.

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. The nine situations Northstar most commonly helps with give a clearer picture of whether this sounds familiar.

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. Remote and hybrid engagement means geography is rarely a barrier for businesses elsewhere in the UK. You can read more about Carl's background and recommendations on his LinkedIn profile.