Sir Andrew William Graham Wylie (born 12 August 1959) is a British businessman and co-founder of

Sage Group The Sage Group plc, commonly known as Sage, is a British multinational enterprise software company based in North Tyneside, England. As of 2017, it is the UK's second largest technology company, the world's third-largest supplier of enterpri ...

, the United Kingdom's largest software business.

Early life

Wylie was raised in the North East of England, the son of a Scottish miner from

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

; Wylie's mother was originally from

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

. In 1980, Wylie attained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Statistics from

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

Career

In 1981 Wylie co-founded

with David Goldman and Paul Muller, having programmed the initial Sage accounts package himself. The Sage Group quickly grew to be a successful worldwide financial software company and is the only software company listed on the

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...

. In 2003, Wylie sold his stake Sage for an estimated £195 million. In October 2003, Wylie founded Technology Services Group and in the following years expanded that company primarily through acquisition. Speedflex (Europe) Ltd was formed in 2011 by chairman Wylie,

Paul Ferris Paul Ferris may refer to: * Paul Ferris (composer) (1941–1995), English film composer * Paul Ferris (footballer) (born 1965), Northern Irish former footballer and now physiotherapist * Paul Ferris (Scottish writer) (born 1963), Scottish writer and ...

and

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

. Wylie was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to business and charity. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by

Northumbria University , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = � ...

in 2000 and

in 2004. He has been awarded the

freedom of the city The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Personal life

In 2003 Wylie married his second wife, Andrea Wylie. He and his wife also own a number of racehorses and Close House (a mansion with golf course). Wylie's horses have raced at some of the sport's most prestigious events including the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

and the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

, where they have won on 13 different occasions. Wylie and his wife purchased Gosforth Shopping Centre for £9.25 million and sold the development more than a decade later for £12.25 million. Wylie has his own charitable foundation, the "Graham Wylie Foundation", which reportedly gives away 100% of donations to its chosen causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wylie, Graham Living people Alumni of Newcastle University British technology company founders Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1959 births English company founders Knights Bachelor Sage Group people 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesspeople