Chief Financial Officer

BAKO is a leading supplier of Bakery Products and Ingredients servicing customers throughout the United Kingdom, with business units in Durham, Preston and Wimbledon.

Launched over 50 years ago, BAKO offers the food industry an outstanding combination of competitive prices plus the exceptional customer service only a local company can provide. The Group takes pride in being owned by bakers for bakers and delivers a UK-wide service and product range that are highly valued by its customers.

Today their customers enjoy the combined purchasing power, logistics and resources of one of the largest nationwide distributors to the food industry, and from large pallet deliveries to products for the small & home baker, BAKO caters to all size of customer.

BAKO supplies a vast choice of major brand names plus the value and quality of their BAKO SELECT products and all ranges are continually developed through constant innovation which ranges from their core bakery market through to new companies. Their multi-temperature distribution fleet allows them to deliver a wide variety of ambient, chilled and frozen products from the same vehicle.

Following a strong period of profitable growth the business is heavily investing in further expansion. Key to the next phase of its evolution is a committed and high performing leadership team and it is at this time the business is looking to recruit a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to join the already experienced team.

The CFO role is a board and an Executive Management Team position as well as a key right hand to the CEO. The role will be responsible for managing both the strategic Finance and IT operations across the BAKO Group Ltd. The CFO will maintain and develop the services offered by BAKO Groups Finance and IT Department and act as a key strategic business partner to the entire Executive Team.

The CFO will be a highly commercial individual, seeking new opportunities for growth and with the gravitas to influence at all levels, both internally and externally, and will be the key contact with both customers and for the shareholders, banks, auditors, HMRC and other commercial advisors.

Individuals with experience within a similar sector is advantageous, with interest also in those coming from FMCG, consumer retail, distribution or wider consumer goods backgrounds.

The location can be flexible as long as travel and the ability to lead teams and manage stakeholders across the UK in key locations such as Preston, Durham and Wimbledon is achievable.

FP&A and Commercial

• Providing financial analysis and guidance on all company activities, plans, targets and business drivers
• Preparation of budgets, forecasts and cash flows, and aiding departments to maintain spending within budget
• Lead, and support the CEO, on all commercial growth and financial modelling initiatives including pricing reviews, capex investment programmes and potential M&A activity.
• Financial modelling and sensitive analysis around current and future business performance
• Provide effective business partnering to key department (Sales, Procurement, Marketing etc) to drive performance and profitability whilst managing risk
• Manage company policies regarding capital requirements, debt and taxation, as appropriate

Accounting & Reporting

• Provide leadership to the Board’s finance and accounting strategy, optimising the company’s financial performance and strategic position
• Overall responsibility for each trading company’s accounting and reporting
• Timely production of statutory and internal consolidated financial reports
• Develop a suite of Monthly Management Reporting and Board Packs
• Take ultimate responsibility for the company cash management and develop accurate cashflow forecasting

IT, Process and People

• Lead project to create a more automated and streamlined central finance function to support each of the operating companies, ensuring delivery of accurate reporting and identifying synergy opportunities across the business units.
• Take ownership of Group IT to harmonise IT across the group businesses and ensure systems are fit for current and future business requirements.
• Drive process and system improvements and automation across the business functions
• Manage and develop further the finance function to enable better commercial and financial business partnering and drive more commercial and financial literacy across the business
• Provide good corporate governance, ensuring that appropriate systems and internal controls are implemented, maintained and audited.

Corporate Governance and Risk Management

• Reporting to the Chair of the Audit Committee as required
• Acting as the Group’s Chief Risk Officer and reporting to the Chair of the Risk Committee
• Maintaining the Group compliance and whistleblowing log
• Acting as the Company Secretary and completing all duties as required.

The successful candidate will be an experienced Finance Director / CFO already with a growth mindset, a highly analytical and commercial approach and a strong technical background in a relevant industry.