UK – Mercer Human Resource Consulting has named Patrick Cosgrave as head of its pensions administration practice.

He takes over from Paul Couchman who will now head the central London operations of Mercer’s retirement practice.

Cosgrave was previously head of Mercer’s global retirement systems in Deerfield, Illinois. Before that he was a client manager in its retirement practice in Ireland.

Cosgrave is Mercer’s latest transatlantic transfer. Last week the firm named Katherine Kruse as a senior consultant, based in London. She moves from Mercer in Canada and will advise multinational clients.

Mercer Human Resource Consulting also said it has been appointed to provide research as part of the current review of the NHS Pension Scheme, the pension plan of the UK’s state-run National Health Service.

It said: “The aim of the review is to ensure that the pension scheme meets the needs of a modern NHS and its staff, by making benefits more appropriate for today’s workforce.”