O'Hare a contender to swap Microsoft for Scottish Enterprise

Published on Saturday 15 August 2009 19:26

RAYMOND O'HARE, who has announced his resignation as head of Microsoft in Scotland, is being touted as an early candidate to replace Jack Perry as chief executive of Scottish Enterprise.

O'Hare, who has spent five years as Scottish director of the software giant, is expected to be succeeded by an internal candidate. An announcement could be made within weeks.

Speaking last week for the first time since going public with his decision, O'Hare, 50, said he had been considering a change of direction for some time. "The truth is that I have had 12 years in the organisation and five as director in Scotland. I have enjoyed it hugely, but I need a change. I'm leaving Microsoft's business here in good shape and with a new headquarters."

He admitted that double digit growth in each of the five years had slowed this year in line with the slump in the economy, but the mix of clients was now well established and companies were seeing the cost advantages of adopting newer technology.

O'Hare, who will leave Microsoft at the end of the year, has spent a career in technology and worked for Digital Equipment in Liverpool and Scotland before joining Microsoft. He brought the company's co-founder Bill Gates to Edinburgh during Microsoft's European Government Leaders Forum, which was held at the Scottish Parliament in 2007. He moved the Scottish operations of the company to the former GPO building at Waverley Gate, Edinburgh.

O'Hare said he intended to stay in Scotland and see out the remaining 18 months of his chairmanship of the Institute of Directors in Scotland. He also sits on a number of influential boards and forums, including the government's National Economic Forum and Skills Utilisation Leadership Group.

He said he would consider a new permanent role outside the technology sector. "There are many areas of the private and public sector where I could make a contribution. If the right role came up in the public sector I would look at it," he said.