Financial Controller

Financial Controller

Reporting to: Managing Director (UK) Location: UK

• £65,000 - £75,000 plus performance bonus
• Pension and benefits package, including private medical insurance

About the Role

Our client is seeking a Financial Controller to lead financial management, control, reporting and compliance across their UK and Irish businesses. This is the lead finance role within the UK and Irish operations, providing accurate financial information, commercial insight and strategic support to the Managing Director, while ensuring alignment with Group policies and reporting requirements.

A key part of the role is maintaining strong working relationships with the Group Finance function overseas, ensuring timely and accurate financial reporting, compliance with Group procedures, and effective communication between the UK/Irish businesses and Head Office.

Key Working Relationships

• Managing Director, UK Senior Management Team and Head Office Finance Team
• External Auditors, Banks and Financial Institutions, HMRC and other regulatory bodies, Customers and Suppliers

Key Responsibilities

• Financial Management & Reporting: Prepare monthly management accounts and analysis, ensure timely and accurate month-end/year-end close, produce financial reports, KPIs and forecasts, maintain general ledger integrity, deliver balance sheet reconciliations and robust controls, and coordinate annual statutory accounts and audits.
• Budgeting & Forecasting: Lead the annual budgeting process, prepare rolling forecasts and cash flow projections, monitor performance against budget, and provide actionable financial analysis to support business decisions.
• Business Partnering: Support the MD and management team with financial insight, analyse profitability by customer, product range and distribution channel, challenge costs, identify efficiencies, and evaluate business cases and investment proposals.
• Group Reporting & Head Office Liaison: Act as primary finance contact with Group Finance, prepare and submit monthly Group reporting packs within agreed deadlines, ensure compliance with Group accounting policies, support consolidation requests/ad hoc analysis, and participate in regular Head Office finance reviews.
• Cash Flow & Working Capital Management: Manage cash flow and liquidity requirements, monitor debtor and creditor performance, optimise working capital and inventory management, and oversee banking relationships and treasury activities.
• Compliance & Governance: Ensure compliance with UK accounting standards, tax regulations and statutory requirements (including VAT, Corporation Tax and PAYE), maintain a strong internal control environment, and support risk management and business continuity planning.
• Systems & Process Improvement: Drive improvements in financial systems and reporting processes, support ERP and business system developments, enhance reporting automation and data quality, and leverage AI technologies to automate routine finance activities and support scalable business growth.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Timeliness and accuracy of monthly reporting, and compliance with Group reporting deadlines
• Cash flow management, working capital performance, audit outcomes and control effectiveness
• Quality of financial support provided to business management, and finance process efficiency/continuous improvement achievements

Person Specification

Essential Qualifications

• Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with strong technical accounting knowledge

Essential Experience

• Minimum 5 years' experience in a senior finance role within an SME environment
• Experience in sales, distribution, wholesale or supply chain businesses, with monthly management reporting and budgeting experience
• Experience working with international parent companies or multinational organisations, and proven experience managing audits and statutory compliance

Essential Skills

• Strong financial and commercial acumen, with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Advanced Excel and financial systems capability, with strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to operate both strategically and hands‑on, with effective relationship‑building across cultures/geographies and strong organisational/project management abilities

Desirable Experience

• Experience reporting to a Nordic or European parent company, and experience with ERP systems such as SAP, Business Central, IFS or similar
• Exposure to inventory-based businesses, and knowledge of transfer pricing and intercompany accounting

Personal Attributes

• High integrity and professionalism, commercially minded with strong business awareness
• Proactive and self-motivated, detail-oriented while maintaining a strategic perspective
• Comfortable working in a dynamic SME environment, collaborative and capable of influencing at all levels, with strong cross-cultural communication skills

Success in Role

Within the first 12 months, the Financial Controller will:

• Establish a trusted partnership with the UK MD, UK and Ireland Management team and Group Finance team, delivering accurate and timely monthly reporting
• Improve financial visibility and commercial analysis, strengthen financial controls and compliance, and identify opportunities to improve profitability, cash flow and operational performance