The United Kingdom’s largest listed technology company, Sage, made some amends to its senior executive team by appointing Jonathan Howell as the new Chief Financial Officer, a post that had been previously held by the new boss Steve Hare. Howell will assume office next week.
Howell previously served as Group Finance Director at Close Brothers and prior to that had been the Chief Financial Officer of the London Stock Exchange Group.
His appointment comes just over a month after Sage announced that Hare would become the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, having held the position in an interim basis for several months and having served as Chief Financial Officer of Sage for four years.
Hare had been an unexpected choice for CEO, given he had previously ruled himself out of the running. However, analysts said his knowledge of the company would be helpful in implementing a turnaround.
Speaking about Howell’s appointment to the executive team, Hare said that Sage would benefit from both his “considerable experience as a public company CFO as well as a strong understanding of the business”. Hare said: “I am delighted that Jonathan has agreed to become CFO. He brings both considerable experiences as a public company CFO as well as a strong understanding of the business. “This, combined with our shared belief in the vision to become a great SaaS business for customers and colleagues alike makes him a great addition to the executive team.”
Howell will receive a basic annual salary of £535,000 and a pension contribution of 10% of salary. He will also receive a bonus and long-term incentives and all other benefits in accordance with Sage’s current directors’ remuneration policy.
The firming up of management will provide some stability to Sage, which has been racked with a wave of departures over the past year, including its former Chief Executive Officer Stephen Kelly. Around 30 middle and senior-level managers left the business in May as profits tumbled due to “inconsistent operational execution.”
