James Beard

After leaving university, James went to work in security lending as an Equity Repo Analyst for Goldman Sachs.  After working for the company for 5 years, James moved up to Newcastle and joined Sage group as a Business Development Analyst.  The role involved working with various Sage operating companies on strategic initiatives, analysing the competitive environment and evaluating potential acquisitions. James became particularly interested in the payments industry following some specific work involving Sage’s US based payments business.  James soon took a role as Integration manager at Sage Pay and then quickly moved into a role as Commercial Development manager.  For a short time, James filled two positions at Sage Pay, stepping in to  manage the Operations team for almost a year before giving it up to concentrate on his own role full time. James' role as Commercial Development Manager involves developing Sage Pay’s longer term strategy and ensuring that the business continues to meet the needs of the market, keeping current clients happy and enabling Sage Pay to target the mid-market.