Staff costs per head rose 17% for accounting software supplier Sage (SGE) in its 2017 financial year despite employing just 54 more people.

It is concentrating on more technical stuff capable of boosting productivity and revenue per employee.

Like most businesses, employee salaries and bonuses are Sage’s biggest single expense at £671.5m last year. That’s about 53% of its total £1.26bn selling, general and administration costs in 2017.

Over the past three years Sage has transformed its product suite to the digital, cloud computing age. Likewise, the company’s staff roster is also going up the value chain and becoming more technically minded.

Fewer customer service staff are required in call centres as contact points increasingly become more automated and self-help and user community oriented.

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