The Sage Group was founded in 1981 and is one of the leading enterprise software companies in the UK. After Oracle and SAP, Sage has taken the third position in terms of becoming the largest supplier of enterprise resource planning software. The founders of the company are David Goldman, Paul Muller, and Graham Wylie. Sage Group is currently based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. The product of Sage has its usability in all types of industrial sectors worldwide. Today, Sage Group has more than 13,000 employees that serve millions of businesses in both the UK and overseas. The company is spread across 23 international markets in Latin America, North America, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Europe. Steve Hare is the CEO of the Sage Group and Sir Donald Brydon is the working Chairperson.
Foundation of the Sage Group
The origin of the Sage Group and the idea behind it dates back to 1981 when David Goldman wanted to create quotes for his print business and keep track of his account. He wanted a very impactful solution for this and started working with a team at Newcastle University. While working, he was assisted by Dr. Paul Muller who was a computer expert working with NASA, and also a student, Graham Wylie who took a summer job writing code for an accounting firm. David and other members of the team realized that the solution that they were building can be beneficial for other businesses as well. This idea led to the foundation of the Sage Group which aimed to develop accounting software for small businesses.
Today, the solutions of Sage include account management, payrolls, HR, assets, construction, estate, enterprise systems, etc. Once David and other team members started to develop the product, he hired more employees. The first product of the company was called Sage Accounts and the code was written by Graham Wylie, the student who was hired for a summer job at Campbell Graphics (the print business of David Goldman). After developing the first product successfully, Sage started selling the software to other printing businesses and eventually expanded its network. Impressed by the work of Graham and Dr. Paul, they were brought on board as a part of Sage.
The Success of the Company
After developing the first version of the product and selling it to other print businesses, the demand for Sage increased. In 1984, the company developed Sage Software, a product that was built for the Amstrad PCW word processor. The same year, the sale of the Sage Software increased by ten folds from 30 to 300 each month. After a few years, Sage got listed on the London Stock Exchange and became a publicly-traded company. In the 1990s, Sage expanded overseas and established an Irish division of the business in Dublin. The company also opened Sage’s professional Accountant Division and entered FTSE 100. Sage eventually entered the mid-range business software market by the end of the 20th century.
In 2001, Sage Group entered the contact management market after acquiring Interact Commerce Inc and next year bagged the “Business of the Year” in the National Business Awards. The company also became famous as the Sage shares performed the best in the 90s compared to other UK businesses. Sage also sponsored £6 million for the new music center in Gateshead which is now known as Sage Gateshead. After two years, in 2003, Graham Wylie retired from the company and there were new members joining the executive team of Sage. Steve Hare became the CEO of the company in 2018 and before that, he served as the CEO of Sage since 2014. The Sage group currently has 6.1 million customers spread across the world from Africa to the Middle East, from Australia to Asia focusing on management solutions as well as engaging in non-profit works.
Steve Hare – CEO of Sage Group
Steve Hare is a famous British businessman who joined Sage with a rich industrial experience. He worked at General Electric Company in many roles including serving as the CFO of the company. He also worked at Spectris plc and Invensys and was a partner at Apax Partners. Currently, he is the CEO of the Sage Group and he was named the best CEO of the UK by Glassdoor during the pandemic.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more