Stobart had also been CEO of Sage Northern Europe, a unit that no longer exists following a reorganization. Clayton joined Sage in June 2004 as a non-executive director and then became an executive in October 2007. It should be noted that Clayton joined the executive board as strategy, mergers and acquisitions director. It’s tempting to view the transition as stemming from events last year when Paul Walker retired as the long-time chief executive and was replaced by the current job holder, Guy Berruyer. Whether the retirements are part of his plan or not, Berruyer gets the chance to reshape the executive board. And of the five executive board members in place two years ago, only Paul Harrison, finance director, is in the same position he held then and only Harrison and Berruyer remain on the board. So for those who have worried about turnover in lower executive ranks, the change reaches the top also. There were about 11 acquisitions under Clayton, none of them blockbusters. His move follows Berruyer's statement this month when fiscal 2011 result were reported that he was to rev up the M&A engines again.