Newcastle software group Sage is to cut more than 800 jobs globally, following a briefing from CEO Steve Hare who told staff the company had to 'shift our investments' and 'simplify our business'.

The company, based at Cobalt Business Park in North Tyneside, saw its shares become one of the day's big fallers, down 33p at 707.8p.
Hare told colleagues: "We have made some decisions about the roles and skills we will need in every part of our business. It is my job as CEO to make those decisions, even when they are difficult, to ensure we are successful both in the short and long term.

"We are announcing that we will remove some roles across the business so we can further rebalance our investments towards our strategic priorities and simplify the business. We will remove approximately 200 roles in the UKI, 250 roles in North America and 370 roles in our International region across Europe, Middle East and Africa and APAC.

"I do understand how difficult this news is to hear – for all of you, but specifically for those impacted, and it is not a decision I have taken lightly.  We have stood by our commitment to not make changes to our organisation in response to short term events or targets. For the long term, we cannot shy away from the big decisions that, whilst difficult, enable us to focus our investment and simplify our business in ways that will be transformative for our stakeholders."

He announced a restructuring of senior staff and said the group would still be creating new positions and continue to hire as part of the long-term plans.

In its latest figures, for the nine months ended 30 June, total group revenue increased by 2.6% to £1,329m. Jonathan Howell, Chief Financial Officer, then commented: “The performance demonstrates continued delivery against our strategy. Sage’s growth is accelerating, driven by increasing demand for Sage Business Cloud solutions, particularly in cloud native, as we support customers in their digital transformation. Through our additional strategic investment, we are building strong foundations to drive further sustainable growth and support the long-term success of the Group.”

Sage is the global market leader for technology that helps SMEs manage finances, operations and people, and is used by millions of customers worldwide. Its chairman, Sir Donald Brydon formally steps down today as Chair of the Sage Board and Chair of the Nomination Committee, to be succeeded in both roles by Andrew Duff.

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