A MAJOR company yesterday pledged its long-term future to the region - which could lead to about 500 new jobs.

Bosses at international accounting and software giant the Sage Group laid the foundations for the firm's new group headquarters in Newcastle Great Park.

The company estimates that up to 1,500 Sage employees could be based at the new site by 2005. About 1,000 will relocate from its present city base.

Sage chief executive Paul Walker said: "We are delighted that the building of our new headquarters is now going ahead.

"This represents a major milestone in Sage's history and also demonstrates our commitment to and investment in the North-East as an excellent region in which to live and work."

A leading international supplier of accounting and business management solutions, Sage was formed in 1981. It employs 5,000 people worldwide in branches throughout Europe and the US.

Company bosses and long-serving employees were joined yesterday by Newcastle City Council chiefs and representatives from Newcastle Great Park Consortium at the site to witness the laying of the building's foundations.

The deputy leader of the council, Councillor Keith Taylor, said: "To encourage one of the FTSE-100 top blue chip companies to relocate within the area is no mean feat. I'm confident this anchor tenant will act as a yardstick for other UK companies to follow and relocate to Newcastle Great Park."

The company will move to the £50m site by December next year. The complex will be the nerve centre for both the group and its UK business.

The first phase of the new building will take up 350,000sq ft, with a projected final area of 575,000sq ft.

Newcastle City Council granted Sage planning permission for the scheme in February. It will form part of a giant mixed business and residential development at Great Park, situated on the edge of Gosforth.

The first residential phase will see more than 170 homes built in the area between Brunton Lane, the Great North Road and the A1. More than 2,500 new properties will be built in Great Park in the next ten to 12 years.