Finance Director

Our client is a successful, profitable, multi-site consumer business with current turnover c£12m. The business is forecasting a period of significant organic growth and, additionally, plans to double the number of operating locations over the next 3 years. Owned and chaired by a successful entrepreneur with a track record of building and selling businesses within the sector, a hands on Finance Director is now required to partner with the Managing Director and leadership team in delivering the business’s growth strategy and providing astute commercial insight and support.

The Role

This is a broad and hands-on role with key aspects ranging across all aspects of the business’s financial management - from strategic planning and financing of expansion to financial control to working capital management and management of the finance team. A key aspect of the role is providing commercial support (partnering) to all operational areas of the business. The role is also responsible for IT.

Reporting to the Managing Director and Chairman key aspects of the role include the following:

• Strategic / Commercial: Provide input to the Board / Leadership Team in shaping business strategy; Business planning, forecasting and working capital management; appraising potential new sites; arranging financing as required.
• Financial Control and reporting: Ensure that the business is excellently financially managed in a proactive and controlled manner, supported by robust processes and controls and IT systems fit for the current and planned scale of the business.
• Commercial / Business Partnering: Work closely with the Operations Managers, developing their financial and commercial awareness, gaining buy-in to performance improvement measures. Identify areas where cost savings and efficiency improvements can be made.
• Management: Lead the finance team (3 staff) and IT Manager, ensuring that they possess the skills to manage, to a high standard of excellence, the finances (and IT) of the business of the current and planned size of the Company.

The Candidate

• A commercially astute qualified accountant, ideally with experience in a privately owned, entrepreneurial, multi-site business.
• A hands-on, detail oriented, pragmatic, analytical, persuasive character, who enjoys working within a highly motivated team, and who gets things done. A skilled driver of change and business improvement.
• An adept relationship-builder, skilled in communicating financial information to non-finance managers, able to provide constructive challenge and support to other Board members and business managers.
• Strongly IT literate.
• A person who enjoys taking ownership and works to high personal standards of care.

This is an exciting time for the business and the successful candidate will be joining as the business embarks on a significant phase of expansion.