£40,000 + bonus + bens

Shepton Mallet  CCR  1183

My client, a subsidiary company,  is very profitable and currently growing at the rate of 20% year on year. The business model is well tried and tested. Application of this model to a growth area in a niche market is resulting in solid growth of both profit and turnover for the business. Consequently, there is increasing demand being placed on the finance function which has led to the need to recruit for the newly created role of Financial Controller.

This is an ideal first Financial Controller role for a qualified accountant early in their career. You will be mentored and assisted in your professional development by a very talented, experienced and highly qualified Head of Finance. Responsible for leading the finance team in all aspects of its day to day functions and supporting the Head of Finance, you will also be required to manage and support others within the team. In this role you will be exposed to a wide range of finance activities with a great opportunity to make a real difference and have significant interaction with the overseas parent. Specific duties will include: management reporting with analysis and commentary in respect of stock, inventory, suppliers and customers; business and compliance controls involving forecasting, budgeting, control accounts; and support in areas including cash management and banking relationships, systems, ledgers together with various ad hoc duties.

This is an excellent opportunity for a qualified ACA, ACCA CIMA with some supervisory experience, either in industry or working in a medium sized accounting based practice, to gain their first Financial Controllership. You should be a well organised and confident individual with good communication and people skills. You should possess initiative, technical strengths coupled with commercial awareness, and good systems / Excel skills. Flexibility in your approach to work, together with the ability to prioritise effectively will be essential. The company and the role will grow, promising good career development.

c£75,000 + Bonus + Shares + Bens + Relocation

Bath   CCR 1182 

The Company

My client is a highly successful and very profitable fully listed group which continues to expand. The business maintains its position of global market leader through market leading products, continual innovation, an emphasis on quality and customer satisfaction combined with a controlled growth strategy. Culturally it is best described as dynamic, ethical, and highly professional coupled with informality and a genuine interest in its employees, who take great pride in the company.  The senior managers and directors have a very successful collegiate style of working together.

The Role

Working very closely with the Group Financial Director, Group Financial Controller and a member of the Treasury Committee you will be responsible for the development and effective delivery of the group’s treasury function. Due to the relatively early development of this function, it is a very small team and therefore will require the appointee to operate at all levels from daily hands on routines through to strategic policy development, supported by a part time assistant. The key aspects of the role will involve:-

• Management of treasury operations, within policy, throughout the Group
• Performing front office treasury functions
• Preparing papers for, and providing minutes from meetings with the Treasury Committee as well and ensuring high quality reporting on treasury performance.
• Strategy development and  reducing risk while keeping control of costs
• Treasury related projects
• Contributing to the output of the wider plc Finance team

Specifically you will be tasked with managing global cash, liquidity, funding, FX, and banking. You will also be required to identify, and produce high quality reports on, anticipated treasury requirements and subsequent strategies to meet business needs. Developing and maintaining strong banking relationships globally and assisting in Plc finance, both treasury and non-treasury related, will also be core to the role. Together with the Group Financial Director and the senior finance team, you will share in performing internal audits, typically two per year, involving overseas travel.

The Candidate

Seeking your first or second role as Group Corporate Treasurer you should be a graduate, ACA, ACCA or ACMA and / or AMCT qualified and have experience of treasury in a medium to large international group at mid to senior levels. Your CV should demonstrate the skills and tangible achievements relevant to this appointment. To succeed in this role you must have; excellent communication skills, commercial and technical strengths, and a flexible and team oriented approach to work. A good sense of humour and the ability to work well under pressure are considered prized qualities by the team. The company rewards good performance well.

c£40,000 + Bonus + Benefits

Bristol  CCR1181

This is an excellent opportunity to join a fast moving, cash rich, and highly profitable global business. The position, which is broader than the title suggests, is newly created and offers a good measure of exposure to influential managers as well as Plc Directors. Continued growth and increased demand on the head office finance team has led to this requirement, which is also seen as a developmental role for succession planning.

Working closely within a small head office team, led by the Group Financial Controller and Group Financial Director, you will be responsible for : – consolidating sections of the  Group management accounts; overseeing the group capital expenditure and headcount approval processes; assisting the Group Financial Controller with legal and statutory reporting requirements; assisting the Group  Treasurer with  treasury related accounting  including  FX and Money Market transactions, and regular cash reporting. You will also support the Group Finance Director and Controller with adhoc projects such as subsidiary operational performance analysis, through to acquisition related accounting. Working with other senior members of the finance team you will also form part of the global Internal Audit team, so international travel can be expected. This team is not only responsible for compliance and operations reviews, but also for providing additional resource worldwide as and when required.

You should be an “upper quartile” graduate, qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA) who is meticulous, can see the “bigger picture”, and can work to tight deadlines. Preferably, your accounting skills will have been developed within a multinational, multicurrency environment operating under IFRS. This role requires a good team player who is highly motivated, confident, and can communicate comfortably and effectively at all levels, and with different nationalities. A willingness to go the extra mile, the ability to be flexible in your approach to work, and proficiency in the MS suite are essential.  Career development opportunities exist for the right candidate.

Bonus and salary reviews can be a bit of a minefield. Post review complaints are usually voiced in terms of “feeling” a review was “unfair”. Closer examination may reveal that the individual met performance objectives; the company met its budgetary targets; and yet employee “feels” the review was not satisfactory compared to what they should have received. In contrast, the reviewer may “feel” that they have gone to lengths to produce a “fair” review and is subsequently perplexed by an unhappy employee. How then can each side successfully navigate through this minefield and achieve a review that is “right first time”? I suggest that a solution might be based on a well written and regularly updated CV in conjunction with company set targets. (I’m not suggesting for one minute that you present a CV at your review!)

Before further explanation, it’s worth qualifying that this suggestion is likely to apply mainly to those who are in a position to influence commercial outcomes. For those who aren’t in that position, similar principles might apply but would be based on attaining prescribed process based targets. Consequently there is less room for negotiation for the latter than for the former.  

The relevance of a CV to bonus reviews is easily demonstrated. In writing your CV, take the view that your application is a Capital Expenditure proposal. You want a salary package of £x and in return for this investment the company expect a return of £y from your business activities. This, hopefully, will be a multiple of your salary. The evidence is contained in achievements you have accomplished in your current and previous roles. Here is the crux of the matter; the achievements must include metrics and actual values. These are the tangible and measurable evidence of your influence. For the purposes of a salary or bonus review these can be transferred to a spreadsheet rather than taking a CV to a review.  This should also contain brief commentary on issues addressed, the resolutions provided and the end result expressed in £x. Totalled up, these represent the return on investment that you represent. In preparing for a salary/bonus review it might also be helpful to consider two ratios. Salary £x compared to your results £y; and the bonus of £z compared to your results of £y. These might be considered alongside the company’s prescribed targets and discussed in order to arrive at a fair and equitable review.

The potential issue which arises in a review is that the company set measures may not be flexible enough to acknowledge the full extent of your contributions, and therefore an equitable review may not be possible. Supplying the metrics from your CV to the reviewer for discussion can help in a few ways. It provides factual information that can help with fine tuning to achieve a “right first time” review. It can provide the means by which to judge the equanimity of a review and your merits to an employer. It may also help in negotiating a bonus or salary uplift over and above the original increase. Facts rather than feelings will always be considered more favourably. This then is how a metric based CV is relevant to, and can help navigate successfully through the bonus minefield.

£30 – 40,000 + Car + Bens

Bristol  CCR  1180

A large specialist UK wholesaler seeks a commercially aware qualified accountant with drive and ambition to be based in Bristol and to oversee a number of sites.

Reporting to a Senior Regional Manager, you will be responsible for KPIs, performance analysis, budgets and forecasts. Specific focus will be on cost reporting.

You will be highly motivated, possesses drive and have good communication skills. There is a degree of travel involved in a fast moving environment and therefore you should be well organised, able to prioritise and be flexible in your approach to work.

£40 – 50,000 + Bens

Bristol CCR 1179

This large premium branded UK business is undergoing strategic restructure and is consequently strengthening its’ commercial finance department. As a result there is a requirement for two high calibre, graduate, qualified accountants to join as Financial Analysts.

Reporting to Business Partners and a Divisional Finance Director, responsibilities will include:-assisting with driving financial performance and managing change. You will be involved with provision of business critical information in the sales area, together with providing guidance and advice. Other duties will involve benefit analysis and appraisal of process improvement and providing support in developing budgets, forecasting and KPIs.

You should be an ambitious, driven qualified seeking a role which provides the opportunity to make a difference. Good analytical, communication and spreadsheet skills are required. The positions are open to either qualified accountants in commerce and industry or ACAs at management levels within a Big 4 or top 10 practise.

£50 – 60,000 + Benefits

Bristol  CCR 1178

This large premium branded UK business is undergoing strategic restructure and is consequently strengthening its’ commercial finance department. As a result there is a requirement for two talented, graduate, qualified accountants to join as Business Partners.

These high profile roles will report direct into a Divisional Finance Director and will carry the responsibility of making a significant impact on the business, by driving financial performance in various areas including Acquisitions, Brands & Marketing. This will involve owning all management information and providing support to key decision makers such as operations managers and directors concerning commercial terms, and key drivers for costs & revenues. This requires an understanding of the group strategy in the short, medium and long term, together with full P&L and Budgetary responsibilities. The roles offer an excellent opportunity to achieve significant change and success for the overall business.

You should be a high calibre qualified accountant with a sound understanding of commercial principles and a demonstrable track record of achievement, and impact on your current organisation. Good Excel skills are essential to this role, together with good communication and influencing skills. The positions are open to either qualified accountants in commerce and industry or ACAs at management levels within a Big 4 or top 10 practise.

£50,000 pro rata for  3 months

Chippenham  CCR  1177

This very successful medium sized business is growing and consequently needs an interim Qualified Accountant to assist the Financial Controller with various ad hoc projects over a three month period.

The projects will include: – investigating if spend qualifies for Research and Development tax credits, implementation of some IT systems such as EDI links with customers, help with creation of a European company, cash forecasting, reviewing systems and implementation. Other projects may involve supporting some of the existing business units.

You should be commercially aware and have operated at mid to senior level management previously. Experience of process improvement, IT development and implementation is highly desirable.

to £50,000 + FX Car + Bens

Chippenham  CCR  1176

This is an excellent opportunity for a talented, qualified, accountant to join a strongly branded and well established business in a high profile commercial role. This appointment is both challenging and rewarding, and is seen as a platform for career development within the company. Having gone through significant change, the company as a whole is now performing strongly and the trend for growth is set to continue.

Reporting to the Head of Department and working closely with Commercial Managers, your responsibilities will focus on Financial Planning & Analysis and some Business Development. You will take ownership of management information critical to both success of the different business activities, and to the main board. Taking a proactive role you will also support financial and operational line managers nationally to increase efficiencies through agreed KPIs. You will also be involved in developing the Financial Planning department, and determining long term strategy for the way in which the department supports the entire business. There will be significant input into ensuring tenders are robust both commercially and financially, together with supporting the tendering process by providing critical financial review of all new business projects. This will involve costing, risk, investment appraisal, pricing and commercials.

The role requires a qualified ACA, ACMA or ACCA who is articulate, confident and has excellent interpersonal skills. You will be a team player with proven negotiation abilities and high integrity. Advanced analytical and financial modelling prowess is essential for success. In addition, you will be capable of manipulating and understanding complex data, and presenting it clearly and precisely in easily understood terms to non-finance managers. You should be able to demonstrate, drive, determination, innovation and flexibility to manage relationships, workloads, objectives and deadlines.

c£45,000 + Car

Home Based / Travel Throughout the UK  CCR 1175

This UK business, with a workforce in excess of 4,000, is an Outsourcing Solutions specialist to both private and public sectors. It now seeks to appoint a talented IT Service Delivery Manager to take full responsibility for Service Delivery to clients/end users.

Reporting to the Head of IT you will work with clients, suppliers, application providers, project and other IT delivery managers to manage change processes effectively and to ensure contractual obligations are met. This will involve detailed reporting by contract/department, and reviewing progress with the customer as and when required.Specific duties will involve:- IT service delivery, production of service reports to agreed timescales; attending client sites for reviews; failure incident reporting and identifying the issues to prevent reoccurrence; bid process contributions to ensure proposed IT infrastructure meets agreed SLAs; and change management ensuring the client understands post change implications .

Ideally you will have a strong IT background, good technical skills, a minimum of three years in IT Support / Projects together and an ITIL based qualification in Service Management. You should be a team player with experience of supplier management and managing 3rd parties to deliver application developments.