Acquisitive MSP Nasstar appoints former Cognizant exec as CEO

Paul Cosgrave takes top job at £200m-revenue MSP Nasstar

Nasstar has appointed a former New Signature and Cognizant exec as its CEO following its mammoth acquisition of KCOM's IT services business last year.

Paul Cosgrave will take the helm of Nasstar on 1 October, replacing outgoing CEO Wayne Churchill.

Cosgrave previously led the cloud business and global AWS business group in EMEA and APAC for IT services firm Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Before that, Cosgrave was the UK CEO and then group chief strategy officer of Microsoft cloud consulting business New Signature before it was acquired by Cognizant in 2020.

Nasstar describes Cosgrave as a "seasoned business leader" and a "visionary" in the cloud space.

He will work in tandem with outgoing CEO Wayne Churchill in the early stages of his new role to ensure a smooth succession, Nasstar claims.

Churchill led Nasstar for three years as CEO and oversaw several acquisitions including Naastar, Smart421, Modality and KCOM's ICT business.

Nasstar acquired the KCOM division in June last year, which added managed services, hosting, connectivity, voice and project-based business units.

At the time, Nasstar said the deal would make it one of the largest independent providers of managed services in the UK, with more than 1,000 staff nationwide.

Nasstar now claims to have revenues of more than £200m, and claims it has won large contracts with customers including Eurostar, the Ministry of Defence and network operator EE.

"I believe Nasstar is well positioned - with an exciting path ahead - as it continues to transform into a highly differentiated cloud and network services provider," said Cosgrave.

"I look forward to working with the talented team to accelerate innovation and create value for our customers."

Nasstar's chairman, Patrick De Smedt, added: "We are delighted to have attracted someone of Paul's calibre. Paul's expertise and experience with the hyperscaler providers will be instrumental in helping us to accelerate the next stage of our development.

"At the same time, I would like to thank Wayne for his immense contribution to the business."