Stephen Kelly (businessman)


Stephen Paul Kelly is a British businessman, and the former chief executive officer of Sage Group.

Early life

He was born in Kent, England and attended the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone. Kelly received a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Bath.

Career

Kelly has 35 years’ leadership experience in both the private and public sector. He has held CEO positions with three UK & US public tech companies, as well as spending three years as COO of the UK Government.
He started his career as an accountant, working for the now-defunct British tech firm, ICL, for four years. In 1988, he joined American multinational computer technology corporation, Oracle as an executive of the European management team. After nine years at Oracle, he joined Californian enterprise software start-up, Chordiant. In 2001 he became chief executive officer, replacing Sam Spadafora.
He returned to the UK in 2006 to become chief executive officer of FTSE software firm Micro Focus International. In 2009, he announced he would step down as CEO of Micro Focus, citing personal reasons.
In 2011 he joined the UK Government, and was made chief operating officer and head of the Efficiency and Reform Group in 2012 under cabinet office minister, Francis Maude.
He left his role with the Government in November 2014 to join FTSE 100 multinational enterprise software company, Sage Group, where he was Sage's first externally appointed CEO. During his time as CEO, Sage has acquired North American cloud-based financial software company Intacct in 2017 for $850m, and Fairsail, a British provider of cloud-based human resources software.
In 2015, Kelly was appointed as one of six new Prime Minister's business ambassadors to help boost the UK’s performance in international trade.
On 31 August 2018, Sage Group announced that Kelly would step down as a director and CEO, and was succeeded by Steve Hare, CFO during Kelly's tenure at the company.
On 1st June 2020, Kelly was appointed as Chair of Tech Nation, the growth platform for tech companies and leaders, joining existing board members including Tech Nation CEO Gerard Grech, David Richards, founder and CEO of WANdisco, and Sarah Wood, co-founder of Unruly.

Personal life

He is married with three daughters.