Financial Controller (Hybrid)

Vegetarian Express; Watford; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the foodservice industry seeks a Financial Controller to lead a small team and manage comprehensive financial operations. With a focus on strategic growth and operational efficiency, this role offers opportunities for professionals eager to contribute to a high-growth environment. Candidates should have strong accounting qualifications and be ready to engage with senior leadership teams in a dynamic SME setting.

Benefits

Competitive basic salary

25 days annual leave plus public holidays

Annual leave purchase up to 3 additional days

Health cash plan

Pension

Group Life Assurance

Staff discount on ALL products

Training opportunities

Cycle to work scheme

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant with 3+ years' experience.
• Strong technical expertise in finance.
• Experience in FMCG environment is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 5 in financial reporting and budgeting.
• Act as primary contact for external advisors.
• Drive process improvements and deliver key projects.

Skills

Technical expertise in group consolidation

Budgeting

Scenario analysis

Organisational skills

Time management

Detail-oriented

Problem-solving

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Education

ACA, CIMA, or ACCA certification

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

SAGE 200

Job description

Job Title: Financial Controller

Location: Unit 7a, Odhams Trading Estate, St Albans Road, Watford, WD24 7RY

Salary: Competitive

Job Type: Permanent, Full Time

Working Hours: 40 hours per week (Monday to Friday 08.30 - 17.00) However flexibility to business needs required.

The Role

Are you a financial professional with 3 + years post-qualified experience and a passion for making a difference? This is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-paced SME environment, ideal for a technically strong and commercially curious finance professional ready to shape and scale a growing finance function. This role could also be suitable for someone wanting progression into a Financial Controller role.

Reporting directly to the CFO, you will lead a team of 5 and take full ownership of financial reporting, budgets and the effective delivery of day-to-day and month-end financial processes.

You will act as the primary point of contact for external advisors and handle all technical accounting queries. The role also includes leading finance-related and wider Group initiatives, requiring the ability to build strong working relationships with the Senior Leadership Team.

This is a broad and varied role that offers the opportunity to drive process improvements, deliver key projects, and provide strategic support to both the finance function and the wider organisation.

As a Private Equity-backed business, this position presents a unique opportunity for an individual to gain exposure to a dynamic, high-growth environment and play a key role in the next phase of the company's strategic growth and development

About Us

Vegetarian Express specialise in delivering plant-based ingredients, ideas and inspiration to chefs across the UK for eating out of home.

With the astronomical rise in popularity of plant-based, vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets, Vegetarian Express are uniquely placed in Foodservice to meet with this demand, and as such are rapidly growing and expanding.

Nationally we supply more than 4000 skilled chefs from customers such as Compass, Baxterstorey and Hilton, as well as a ton of independent operators. Vegetarian Express work with customers to create plant-based menus that are enticing, better for consumers health, the planet and commercially for businesses.

We are proud to be a certified B Corporation. This means we are part of a growing number of progressive businesses around the world that truly believe in the power of business to do good things and, more importantly, we are doing something about it.

What You Need

• Fully qualified accountant with over 3 years' post-qualification experience (ACA, CIMA, or ACCA)
• Strong technical expertise in group consolidation, budgeting, and scenario analysis
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and SAGE 200
• Excellent organisational and time management skills; able to prioritise tasks effectively under pressure
• Detail-oriented with a proactive, problem-solving approach
• Adaptable and flexible in managing changing workloads
• Self-motivated with a high level of initiative
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
• Experience within an FMCG environment (advantageous)
  
  

In Return We Offer

• Competitive basic salary
• 25 days annual leave plus public holidays
• Annual leave purchase up to 3 additional days
• Health cash plan
• Pension
• Group Life Assurance
• Hybrid working arrangement
• Staff discount on ALL products
• Training opportunities
• We promote good physical and mental health and can provide additional support to our employees via our Employee Assistance Programme and a Cycle to work scheme
  
  

Candidates with experience or relevant job titles of; Management Accountant, Head of Finance, Financial Controller, Finance Auditor, Accounts Officer, Credit Controller, Purchase Ledger Clerk, Purchase Ledger Controller, Accounts Clerk, Xero, Accounts Payable Assistant, Purchase Ledger, Assistant Accountant will all be considered