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 The Sage global headquarters in North Tyneside, UK | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 27 April 1981; 43 years ago (1981-04-27)[1] |
| Founder | |
| Headquarters | Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK |
Number of locations | Offices in 23 countries |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | |
| Revenue |  £ 2,332 million (2024)[2] |
| £ 452 million (2024)[2] | |
| £ 323 million (2024)[2] | |
| Total assets |  £ 3,638 million (2024)[2] |
| Total equity | £ 1,093 million (2024)[2] |
Number of employees | 10,996 (2024)[2] |
| Website | www |
The Sage Group plc, commonly known asSage, is a Britishmultinationalenterprise software company based inNewcastle upon Tyne, England. As of 2017,[update] it is the UK's second largest technology company,[3] the world's third-largest supplier ofenterprise resource planning software (behindOracle andSAP), the largest supplier tosmall businesses, and has 6.1 million customers worldwide.[4] It has offices in 23 countries.[5] The company is a patron ofThe Glasshouse, Gateshead music venue inGateshead.[6]
Sage is listed on theLondon Stock Exchange and is a constituent of theFTSE 100 Index.
The company was founded byDavid Goldman,Paul Muller, andGraham Wylie in 1981 in Newcastle upon Tyne, to develop estimating and accounting software for small businesses.[7]
A student atNewcastle University, Graham Wylie, took a summer job with an accountancy firm funded by a government small business grant to write software to help their record keeping. This became the basis forSage Line 50. Next, hired by David Goldman to write some estimating software for his printing company, Campbell Graphics, Graham used the same accounting software to produce the first version of Sage Accounts. David was so impressed that he hired Graham and academic Paul Muller to form Sage, selling their software first to printing companies, and then to a wider market through a network of resellers.[8]
In 1984, the company launchedSage software, a product for theAmstrad PCW word processor,[7] which used theCP/M operating system. Sage software sales escalated in that year from 30 copies a month to over 300.[7] The company was first listed on theLondon Stock Exchange in 1989.[7]
In 1991, Sage acquiredDac Software, Inc., a pioneering American accounting software developer, fromInsilco Corporation who were undergoing bankruptcy reorganization at the time. Dac Software were well known for their DacEasy software suite, which was one of the first integrated accounting software titles to retail for well under $100, when most of its competitors sold suites with equivalent functionality for thousands of US$.[9]
In 1994,Paul Walker was appointedChief Executive. In 1998, Sage's Professional Accountants Division was established. In 1999, Sage entered FTSE 100[7] and launched a dedicated Irish division, based inDublin as well as its e-business strategy. In that same year the UK acquisition of Tetra saw Sage enter the mid-range business software market.[10][11]
Sage was the best-performing UK share in the 1990s, increasing in value by 28,000%.[12]
In 2001, Sage acquired Interact Commerce Inc.[13] and entered theCRM/contact management market and in 2002 Sage won "Business of The Year" in the National Business Awards.[14] Also that year, Sage sponsored the new Music Centre in Gateshead for £6m – now known asSage Gateshead – the largest ever UK arts/business sponsorship.[15] Sage are one of two technology stocks listed on theFTSE 100 Index,[16] the other beingMicro Focus.[17] In 2003, at age 43, Graham Wylie retired with 108.5 million shares in Sage worth £146m. He was rated Britain's 109th richest person in the 2002Sunday Times Rich List.[8]
Tony Hobson joined the Sage board of directors in June 2004 and became chairman in May 2007.[18]
On 19 April 2010, Sage announced that itsCEO,Paul Walker, had indicated an interest in stepping down from his position, which he had held for 16 years.[19] TheFinancial Times reported that his departure would lead to speculation over Sage's mergers and acquisitions, which have been a key component to the group's growth in the past 20 years.[19]
Walker was one of the longest serving CEOs of anFTSE100 company. Walker left the company on 1 December 2010.[20]
On 1 October 2010Guy Berruyer became CEO of Sage Group; Berruyer had previously been CEO of Sage's Mainland Europe & Asia operations.[20]
On 15 February 2013, Sage announced that Accel-KKR intended to buy Sage Nonprofit Solutions, its division that produced software designed for nonprofit organisations and governmental agencies.[21]
In August 2014, Sage announced that Guy Berruyer would retire.Stephen Kelly, the UK government's former chief operating officer, became group CEO in November 2014.[22] In September 2014 the company announced the acquisition of PayChoice for $157 million.[23] In 2016 Sage introduced their first AI offering, a chat bot named Pegg.[24]
In March 2017, Sage Group acquired Compass, an analytics and benchmarking platform.[25] In March 2017, Sage Group also acquired Fairsail, a Human Capital Management (HCM) cloud-based platform.[26][27] In July 2017, Sage purchasedIntacct for $850M.[28]
On 31 August 2018, Sage announced that Stephen Kelly had stepped down as a director and CEO.[29] On 2 November 2018,Steve Hare was appointed CEO.[30] Hare had been chief financial officer of Sage since 2014 and had been interim COO following the departure of the previous CEO.[30]
In 2020, Sage divested its Brazilian operations to the president of the local business, Jorge Carneiro.[31][32] In the 2020s Sage began to integrateartificial intelligence into more of their products.[33] In 2022 Sage launched acarbon accounting product, Sage Earth.[34]
In February 2024 Sage announced the release of Sage Copilot, a generative AI-powered assistant.[35]
Founded and headquartered inNewcastle upon Tyne,United Kingdom, the company has grown organically, through acquisitions and, more recently, through subscription services.[36]
In June 1991, Sage Group moved into their first dedicated headquarters building, Sage House, inBenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, having previously been located in theRegent Centre office park.[37] In 2004, the company completed their £50 million headquarters in theGreat Park area of Newcastle upon Tyne.[38] In 2021 Sage's Newcastle headquarters moved toCobalt Park.[39][40]
The company'sUS headquarters are inAtlanta, Georgia, theCanadian headquarters are inRichmond, British Columbia, the Africa, Middle East & Australia headquarters are inJohannesburg, South Africa and theFrench andContinental European headquarters are inParis,France. Sage has 6.1 million customers and 11,565 employees across the world.[2] Key industry focus includes: Healthcare; HR & Payroll; Construction/ Real-Estate; Transport/ Distribution; Payment Processing; Accountancy; Not-for-Profit; Manufacturing; Retail; Automotive Distribution.[41]
Financial results are as follows:[42]
| Sept year-end £'millions | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 552 | 560 | 688 | 760 | 936 | 1,158 | 1,295 | 1,439 | 1,435 | 1,334 | 1,340 | 1,376 | 1,307 | 1,436 | 1,569 | 1,715 | 1,857 | 1,936 | 1,903 | 1,846 | 1,949 | 2,184 | 2,332 |
| Reported growth | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | +12% | +30% | +7% | +11% | 0% | +4% | 0% | +3% | -5% | +10% | +9% | +19% | +8% | +5% | -2% | -3% | +5% | +12% | +7% |
| Underlying growth | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | +7% | +7% | +3% | -4% | -1% | +4% | +2% | +4% | +5% | +6% | +12% | +7% | +7% | +6% | +8% | +5% | +6% | +10% | +9% |
| Operating profit | n/a | n/a | n/a | 202 | 249 | 283 | 300 | 321 | 365 | 365 | 366 | 180 | 360 | 360 | 427 | 348 | 427 | 382 | 404 | 373 | 367 | 315 | 452 |
| Pre-Tax Profit | 129 | 151 | 181 | 194 | 221 | 223 | 241 | 267 | 319 | 331 | 334 | 164 | 278 | 276 | 275 | 342 | 398 | 361 | 373 | 347 | 337 | 282 | 426 |
The Sage Group is a patron ofThe Sage Gateshead, a Tyneside music venue designed bySir Norman Foster. The Sage Gateshead was completed in 2004 at a cost of £70 million, and has since become a main sight on theRiver Tyne. It is primarily used as a concert venue and centre for musical education, but also hosts other events including conferences.[15]
In 2008, Sage funded the revival ofThe Krypton Factor television series forITV as a part of the Business Brain Training campaign.[43] Sage were the football shirt sponsor in May 2011 forWhitley Bay F.C.'sFA Vase winning match.[44] Sage had previously been a minor sponsor forNewcastle United F.C.[45]
For the2012 Formula One season, Sage were an official supplier for theMarussia F1 team, and for the2013 and2014 seasons Sage logos were placed on the car.[46] For the2017–18 Bristol City F.C. season, Sage has partnered withBristol City F.C. as minor sponsor through their provision of Sage X3 for Bristol Sport.[47][48]
Sage sponsored theInvictus Games in a multi-year partnership starting in 2016.[49] Sage also sponsored the 2019 editions of theReading Half Marathon and theBlaydon Race.[50][51] Sage are an official partner ofThe Hundred cricket tournament.[52]
Sage are sponsoring the2023 Rugby World Cup,[53] as well as theSix Nations Championship.[54] Starting in the 2023 season Sage are an official partner ofMajor League Baseball organization.[55] Additionally, opening 2025, Sage are the named sponsor of the newNewcastleGatesheadQuayside arena and conference centre, named "The Sage".[56]
At this value, Micro Focus will leapfrog Sage as the FTSE 100's biggest technology firm and into the UK's 50 most valuable public companies.
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55°01′10″N1°30′06″W / 55.019364°N 1.50178°W /55.019364; -1.50178
