Software vendor Sage is on the lookout for a new chief executive, as current CEO Paul Walker today announced his imminent departure after 16 years in the role.

During his time at the helm, Walker has seen Sage grow to become the UK’s largest software company. Like most companies in the sector, however, Sage has found the last year a challenging one.

After discounting the impact of currency fluctuations, which have flattered Sage’s results lately given its international business and the demise of the pound, its revenues fell 4% during its last financial year to £1.4 billion. The company is to report its performance for the first half of this financial year in May.  

The difficulty with which software companies might move from a traditional, on premise business model to a hosted, software-as-a-service model were demonstrated in January 2009, when Sage pulled to plug on a SaaS version of its accounting software less than a month after launch citing security issues.

There is no timetable for Walker’s departure, but reports suggest he may leave before the end of the year.