Financial Controller

Chilled Pubs; Quarndon; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Chilled Pubs, a family-run group with seven gastro pubs, seeks a Financial Controller to lead finance across the business. You will own the full accounting cycle, support the team, and ensure accurate, compliant reporting while driving process improvements.

Based in our Derby office above The Joiners Arms, you will manage end-to-end finance, payroll, reporting, and external audit readiness across multiple sites and a food manufacturing hub, enabling smarter business decisions.

Qualifications

• Qualified or near-qualified ACCA/CIMA/ACA or equivalent.
• Experienced in full ownership of the accounting cycle.
• Manufacturing experience and payroll knowledge is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day finance across multiple pubs and a manufacturing hub.
• Be the sole accountant, owning end-to-end accounting and readiness for external audit.
• Manage accruals, prepayments, reconciliations and everyday accounting processes.
• Report on stock counts, variances and cost controls.
• Oversee fixed assets, budgeting, forecasting and cashflow management.
• Supervise payroll processing and compliance with payroll rules.

Skills

Payroll knowledge

Excel proficiency

Strong accounting background

Ability to learn IT systems quickly

Education

ACCA/CIMA/ACA or equivalent

Tools

Sage

Xero

Twinfield

Basecone

Fourth

Power BI

Job description

Bring clarity, control and clever thinking to a growing pub business We’re Chilled Pubs — 7 food-led gastro pubs across the Midlands, built on warm hospitality, seriously good food & drink, and teams full of personality.

We’re looking for a Financial Controller to lead finance across Chilled Pubs; keeping us accurate, organised and compliant, while helping us make smarter decisions for the future.

This is a hands-on role. You won’t just be reviewing numbers from a distance — you’ll be the person who really understands the detail, owns the accounting cycle, supports the team, improves the processes, and makes sure the financial engine room is running properly.

We’re a family-run business, which means we care deeply about the details. We need someone curious, organised and commercially switched on — someone who wants to improve processes, ask the right challenging questions, and turn clear financial information into better business decisions.

We already invest heavily in our own systems and reporting, so we’re looking for someone who gets excited by clear information, clean processes, and finding better ways to work.

What You’ll Be Doing

You’ll lead the day-to-day finance function across multiple businesses, entities and pub sites.

You’ll be the sole accountant in the business, taking ownership of the full accounting cycle from beginning to end and making sure we are ready for external audit.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Solely producing period-end management accounts across multiple pubs sites and food manufacturing hub
• Completing the accounts from the beginning to the end of the accounting cycle, ready for external audit
• Managing accruals, prepayments, balance sheet reconciliations and everyday accounting processes
• Reporting and analysing stock counts, inventory and price variances
• Fixed asset management and capital control
• Budgeting, forecasting and cashflow management
• Managing bank payments, bank reconciliations and credit card transactions
• Managing and preparing reports for the annual external audit process
• Maintain strong financial controls, processes and accurate financial records and always looking for ways to improve
• Overseeing and reviewing fortnightly and monthly payroll processing
• Keeping us compliant with payroll rules, including National Minimum Wage requirements
• Completing statutory requirements, including VAT and national statistics reporting
• Leading, supporting and developing the accounts team
• Overseeing and often hands on involvement in the purchase ledger department with invoice processing, ledger management and payment runs
• Working closely with helpdesk department to resolve payment queries
• Helping non-finance people understand the numbers clearly and confidently
• Oversee and involvement of onboarding of new starters and leavers and user system set up
• Providing cover for all roles in the department

We need someone who can keep the financial engine room running properly — and help us make it better.

This is a Monday to Friday, fully office-based role, situated in our newly refurbished offices above The Joiners Arms in Quarndon, Derby.

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Experienced in manufacturing, has payroll knowledge and a strong general accounting background
• Has strong excel skills and knowledge of accounting software packages, such as sage or xero
• Able to understand and use various IT systems quickly
• Curious, organised and process-minded
• Commercially switched on
• Interested in how AI can improve the way finance works
• Able to lead and support a small accounts team
• Comfortable working across multiple sites, companies and moving parts
• Calm, trustworthy and happy to challenge when needed
• Hands on and can work in a business where accuracy, control and pace all matter

A background in manufacturing and payroll knowledge would be a strong advantage. We need someone who understands stock, variances, controls and the realities of a busy operational business.

Qualifications And Experience

You’ll be qualified or very nearly qualified in ACCA, CIMA, ACA or equivalent.

You must have strong practical accounting experience and be confident owning the full accounting cycle.

Experience with systems such as Twinfield, Basecone, Fourth, Power BI or similar would be useful — but more importantly, you’ll be confident learning systems, improving processes and making financial information clearer.