Walker graduated in economics at the
University of York. He then began his career as a chartered accountant and auditor at
Arthur Young. In 1994, Walker was appointed chief executive of Sage. In April 2010, Sage announced that Walker, had indicated an interest in stepping down from his position, which he had held for 16 years. The
Financial Times reported that his departure would lead to speculation over Sage's mergers and acquisitions, which have been a key component to the group's growth in the past 20 years. In an interview with
The Times, the CEO of Sage's UK business stated that: "Acquisitions are part of our
DNA". Walker was one of the longest serving CEOs of a
FTSE 100 company, only exceeded by Sir
Martin Sorrell at
WPP and
Tullow Oil's
Aidan Heavey. Walker left the company on 1 December 2010. Walker was succeeded by
Guy Berruyer at Sage. Walker is also non-executive chairman of
Halma plc and a non-executive director of
Experian and
Sophos. Walker took on the role of chair of
Newcastle University's governing body in August 2017. == References ==