Who We Are

Freemans Event Partners are the leading provider of event and stadium public catering in the UK. We operate at over 400 events each year, working in partnership with prestigious sporting and entertainment venues such as Silverstone Circuit and Twickenham Stadium and have established excellent supplier relationships with market-leading partners across numerous platforms

The main purpose of the Commercial Finance Partner is to drive the commercial element of our Concessions businesses, whilst overseeing the finance function. You will be responsible for ensuring the financial information is fed into our finance department seamlessly. The successful candidate will challenge and prompt the business to reach the correct commercial decisions based on sound financial fact and analysis and increase the revenue and profitability of the division through optimising new contracts and existing relationships with clients, suppliers, operators, and venues.

The main responsibilities will be;

Manage the internal finance function within the Concessions division with a dotted line of reporting through to the Finance Team.
Work collaboratively with Group Finance team to increase efficiency within the accounting process, ensuring joined-up thinking and build solid relationships.
Take responsibility for the day-to-day control of the finances including, but not limited to, the production of monthly management accounts and reporting, debt management and event reconciliation.
Challenging current ways of working, driving efficiencies and continuously improving financial reporting for the division.
Prepare annual forecasts, budgets and Key Performance Indicators, and monitor divisional performance against them, taking remedial action as required to ensure achievement.
Undertake detailed analysis of events post-event against forecasts, identifying areas of underperformance and/or inaccurate forecasting, and making recommendations for improvement where appropriate.
Interpret and present financial data at all levels with appropriate clear and concise analysis.
Analyse and deliver insight that links financial reports to business objectives.
Engage the operational teams, educating them in the budget process, gaining their input, understanding and adherence to the budget during event delivery.
Manage the Revenue Protection Manager to ensure safeguarding of processes and develop client reporting, ensuring integrity of data.
Support those within the Concessions division who have limited financial knowledge to develop a greater financial understanding.
Capable of pulling together a Tender /commercial/financial analysis not just for concessions, but across the group, to secure new business. Providing advice and recommendation on key contract negotiations and evaluating terms within.
Challenge the Concessions Director and Head of Event Delivery and Operations within the Concessions division, to ensure business decisions remain commercial and effective.
Lead the financial element of commercial negotiations. Mitigating risk, modelling, and reporting on outcomes internally and externally.
Provide effective commercial procedures, or initiate change, to ensure key operational, commercial, and financial targets are delivered.
Create and implement the divisional business development plan, identifying and pursuing new opportunities in order to expand the operation and create a sustainable model.
Evaluate new and existing opportunities to target key growth indicators and de-risk the division.
Pulling together SLAs to mitigate risk and provide robustness within the division.
Cross-sell the group assets where possible.
Establish, implement, and develop divisional standards, policies, processes, and measures to ensure performance meets the needs of Group and Divisional goals.
Oversee the use of databases, workflows, and other software, such as Salesforce and Sage 50, within the division.
Form and stand over your own opinions, have a well-developed sense of ethics and be prepared to stand by these principles.
Take into consideration sustainable solutions and best practices to ensure we take responsibility for reducing our impact on the environment and support the companywide sustainability strategy.

We are looking for candidates will the following knowledge, experience and skills;

Essential

Fully Qualified Accountant (CIMA/ACCA/ACA).
Experience of managing relationships and being able to impact and influence senior non-financial management.
Experience of performing detailed financial performance analysis, with high standards, accuracy and presentation.
Ability to compile a bid model with all relevant financial analysis – CAPEX, NPV and IRR etc.
Proven commercial acumen, history of negotiating contracts and tenders.
Proactive problem solver with the ability to analyse complex data and see trends and patterns in the results.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to express financial information to non-financial colleagues.
Mixture of analytical, commercial and persuasion skills.
Proven experience in facilitation and conflict resolution.
Excellent project manager as well as a creative thinker.
Organised thought processes with strong Microsoft Excel knowledge and ability to manipulate data from other sources for presentation to managers.
Excellent planning and time management skills with ability to meet exacting deadlines.
Previous experience of managing a team.

Desirable

Experience of working with EPOS and Sage Systems.
Previous experience of managing Salesforce.
Experience in implementing a database/automated system.

About you;

Has a “can do” attitude and doesn’t hesitate to roll their sleeves up and get involved.
Determined to succeed, with a creative and commercial vision.
Works well independently but is also a team player.
Prides themselves on promoting good practices.
Methodical, pragmatic, organised, logical problem-solver with a good attention to detail.
Courage to challenge and confidence to speak up skilfully.
Resilient, thrives in a fast-paced environment and calm when working under pressure.
Dependable, open and honest, good sense of humour.
Able and willing to stay away from home and travel as required.

Here at Freemans, we promote an open and honest culture where we work together as one team. In return for your hard work at Freemans, we also offer many great benefits;

28 days holiday plus bank holidays on top.
Life cover, income protection, company matched pension scheme, employee assistance programme and eyecare vouchers.
The opportunity to earn some extra cash by using our refer a friend scheme.
We also have fortnightly team lunches and regular social events, plus the opportunity to be involved in some of the UKs most prestigious sporting events and festivals.

Join Our Head Office

Head Office

Bar Crew

Catering Team

On Site Tech

Concessions Team