Sage pulls rug from under BDE

Worcester-based firm stripped of Sage reseller status after experiencing solvency issues

Sage has sent a letter to BDE's customers confirming it is no longer a partner

Concerns are growing over the future of Sage partner BDE Group after the accountancy software vendor severed ties with the reseller over unpaid debts.

Sage last week sent out a communication to customers confirming that the Worcester-based reseller is no longer trading as a Sage business partner.

It also said it understood the directors of BDE are being independently advised by legal and insolvency professionals.

BDE is one of the accountancy software vendor’s largest UK partners with 94 staff and revenues approaching £10m.

In the letter - which was leaked to CRN - Sage’s head of customer services, Guy Letts, assured customers that they would be contacted by another Sage business partner with a view to minimising disruption around support.

BDE serves 1,000 customers from its four offices in Worcester, London, Warrington and Magherafelt in Northern Ireland. Channel sources suggest the majority of these are Sage customers, including about 350 Sage 500 customers and 100 Sage CRM customers. BDE also partners with Microsoft and HP.

Letts said: “We have worked closely with BDE for a prolonged period during what has been a difficult trading period for them. Unfortunately however, this is no longer tenable for us and we have had no alternative other than to seek repayment of our not insubstantial debt that has arisen while supporting BDE."

Letts added that Sage had been in talks with BDE’s bankers, who he said have also reassessed their position.

“As part of this process we have now terminated our business partner agreement with BDE and as a result, BDE is now unable to continue to trade in or support customers of Sage products,” he said.

Letts said that Sage and its remaining partners would endeavour to provide free support to customers that have already paid a support and maintenance renewal fee to BDE.

“In principle, the suggested business partner is likely to do the same, up to the anniversary date of the renewal, but this is a point that needs to confirmed with them. There may be other terms in the agreement that would affect this decision and that we are not aware of,” he said.

However, Letts stressed that customers are under no obligation to continue to go with the suggested partner. Several Sage resellers, including FD Systems, DMC Software and Pinnacle, have already created material on their website dedicated to affected customers.