Thrive, number 50 on the Channel Futures MSP 501 list, has acquired U.K.-based Custard Technical Services. Custard specializes in managed services in the East Midlands and surrounding areas. The acquisition is designed to allow clients of Custard to benefit from Thrive’s managed cybersecurity, cloud services, and automation platform.
Thrive Acquires Custard Technical Services to Further Extend Dedicated U.K. ServicesThe acquisition of the U.K. IT support services company will expand Thrive’s NextGen award-winning portfolio and operations in the international market
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – November 11, 2022 – Thrive, a premier provider of Cybersecurity and Digital Transformation Managed Services, announced today that it has acquired Custard Technical Services, a leading U.K. IT support company based in Nottingham, England that specializes in managed services in the East Midlands and surrounding areas. The acquisition will enable clients of Custard, including manufacturers, charities, and insurance groups, to benefit from Thrive’s next-generation managed cybersecurity, Cloud services, and automation platform.
Founded in 1996, Custard Technical Services is comprised of a skilled technical team of specially trained experts to accomplish IT goals for organizations of various scopes and sectors. Known for their client dedication to service, Custard provides a comprehensive range of IT solutions including consultation, managed services, disaster recovery planning, IT security backup solutions, and ongoing software and hardware support and maintenance. Since its inception, Custard has helped clients become more dynamic and secure through innovative flexible IT solutions that elevate businesses to surpass IT goals.
“Custard is a customer-centric, no-nonsense IT support and security company that has an excellent track record of providing a superb IT experience to clients of all sizes for over two decades,” said Rob Stephenson, CEO of Thrive. “We’re excited to add Custard to our ever-expanding U.K. operations due to their incredible management team, dedicated employees and customers, as well as their attractive geographic location in Nottingham, which will open up the Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester markets for Thrive’s Managed Services & Cybersecurity offerings.”
“Custard has always been committed to delivering reliable and flexible high standards of IT services to go above and beyond the needs of the customer,” said Chris Pass, CEO and Co-Founder of Custard Technical Services. “We are excited to join Thrive’s global roster and believe that our proven track record and our top-tier talented professionals will be an excellent complement to expand Thrive’s extensive NextGen portfolio of solutions.”
Custard Technical Services is now the fifth acquisition by Thrive in 2022 and the second acquisition based outside of the U.S. since 2021, further strengthening Thrive’s global position as a leading technology provider delivering end-to-end managed services to drive secure digital transformation for small to mid-sized enterprises across multiple industries. For more information on Thrive, visit thrivenextgen.com.
About Thrive
Thrive is a leading provider of NextGen managed services designed to drive business outcomes through application enablement and optimization. The company’s Thrive5 Methodology utilizes a unique combination of its Application Performance Platform and strategic services to ensure each business application achieves peak performance, scale, uptime, and the highest level of security. For more information, thrivenextgen.com.
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About Custard Technical Services
Custard Technical Services is an award-winning IT support and security company that offers market-leading solutions to UK and international partners. The organisation is headquartered in Nottingham and London and has been assisting businesses with everything from IT infrastructure to disaster recovery planning for over two decades.
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Zero-Trust CybersecurityThrive CTO Michael Gray explains what it really takes to implement a zero-trust cybersecurity model across what has become highly distributed computing environments.
Thrive CTO: Zero-Trust Baseline Is Asset ManagementAs zero-trust security gains traction, Thrive CTO Michael Gray underlined the importance of implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) as one of the key zero-trust principles for CISOs and recommends starting the journey with asset identification and management.
Employee Spotlight: Foster Hardie, Executive VP of Digital Platform ArchitectureWelcome back to another installment of our “Thrive Spotlight” blog series.
Our featured Thrive employee is Foster Hardie, Executive Vice President of Digital Platform Architecture.
Foster is a hands-on enterprise software veteran and the technical leader for the Thrive Digital Platform, powered by ServiceNow. He manages the architecture, development and administration of ServiceNow to customize it for our clients’ business purposes. Foster has gained industry recognition for his leadership in customizations and rollouts of ServiceNow’s IT Services Management (ITSM), Customer Service Management (CSM), Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and other modules in multi-domain MSP implementation.
Foster spent his early years in California and New England but now lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, just outside Charleston. He is always up for an outdoor adventure and enjoys tennis, fishing, boating, hiking, and literally long walks on the beach. Years ago, you might have even spotted him hang-gliding over Massachusetts! When Foster isn’t exploring the Great Outdoors, he’s devouring the latest headlines as a self-described political news junkie.
Hi Foster! Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Thrive?
I’ve been in development and IT since the late 90s. In the early 2000s, I worked at a small IT shop where Thrive’s CTO and my boss, Mike Gray, was an intern for us. I moved on to hold several software leadership positions and had a consulting business. Mike and I kept in touch throughout the years, and he reached out to me for a new developer role; the rest is Thrive history! In 2008, I started as the Director of Software Engineering, and in 2020 was promoted to my current position.
Where did you go to school or get training?
You might be surprised to learn that I got a degree in philosophy and music from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. After graduation, I quickly learned that there aren’t many jobs in philosophy and music, so I dove into computers. I did a lot of self-training and went back to school, pursuing a degree from The Citadel in Technical Project Management. However, my learning hasn’t stopped there. I have since gained several industry certifications, including ServiceNow, Scrum Master, Project Management and Microsoft SQL.
What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?
I enjoy that everybody I work with is committed to Thrive’s mission. Our team spirit is powerful, contagious and exciting as we grow the company by leaps and bounds. The people at Thrive aren’t just here for a job – they’re here for one another.
Are you interested in learning more about Thrive? Click here!
And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news, and continue checking our blog for more in our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” series. Until next time…
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DOWNLOAD our industry brief today!
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DOWNLOAD our industry brief today!
