Finance Manager – Sjs/12564

This highly successful £40m t/o wholesale and distribution business imports and supplies products to the retail, catering and service sectors. By working closely with suppliers and investing in their supply chain they have established an enviable reputation for quality amongst their loyal and growing customer base.

Having recently established a new distribution and warehousing hub in the North West they are now looking to appoint an experienced Management Accountant / Finance Manager to develop the finance function at the site. This new venture has grown considerably and is expected to reach £15m t/o by the end of their financial year so this is an exciting time to join with plenty of scope for further growth. The role will involve working closely with the Site Manager and sales and purchasing team implementing improvements and processes to accurately record, analyse and report all financial activities. This new role would suit someone who would enjoy a busy, fast moving environment with a high volume of transactions and stock movement. You will report directly to the MD and Finance Director who are both based remotely and should therefore have the confidence and requisite level of experience to work with minimal supervision.

The opportunity would be well suited to a confident self-starter who would relish the chance to make their own mark on something, design a finance function from scratch and implement robust reporting and processes to lay the foundations for future growth. As Finance Manager your responsibilities will be:

• Preparation of the monthly management accounts
• Put month end processes in place and manage balance sheet
• Development and production of MI for the senior management
• Sales reporting and margin analysis
• Management of cash to cover seasonal fluctuations
• Developing short term and longer term cashflow forecasting models
• Creating reports to identify trends and variance to budgets
• Overseeing all transactional activity, banking, foreign payments etc.
• Liaising with warehouse to ensure adequate stock control and valuation
• Implement KPI’s for financial reporting
• Seek out cost reduction and reviewing commercial opportunities
• Driving improvements to accounting systems
• Supervising two part-time staff

The business uses a bespoke sales and stock accounting system which is specific to the wholesale and distribution sector, experience of similar would be ideal but not essential although you must have a good level of IT ability to set up and develop financial reports.

The ideal candidate for this role must have commercial acumen and could be a confident Management Accountant looking for a step up in responsibility or an experienced Finance Manager. The key to success in this role will be the ability to get on with people at all levels in a fast moving, trading environment whilst also implanting the financial processes for growth. The MD has a modern approach to flexible working with the ability to offer a hybrid option to the successful candidate once up and running in the role.