US sales staff cut as Peace tightens its belt

By ADAM GIFFORD

Peace Software has reduced its North American sales force as it tries to weather a tough market for its utility billing systems.

But chief executive Brian Peace said no redundancies were in New Zealand, where the company had 281 development centre and support staff.

"There could be some people let go for performance, but we are always looking for really good people," he said.

Chief operating officer Sebastian Gunningham left Peace in December. The company said he joined early in the year as part of preparations to float Peace, but left when it became clear a listing was unlikely.

Staffing in North America was slashed from 10 to four, and the company reduced the number of trade shows it attends.

"We are still looking to boost revenue from outside the United States," Peace said."In the last week we have received $7 million in orders from Canada and Australia.

"With the Ontario gas market opening up because of deregulation, our customer Direct Energy has asked us to add another million customers to their billing system."

The company is also concentrating on making performance at existing sites "rock solid".