The Role

This is a defined, hands-on 12-week mandate with four deliverables. You will work directly with the founder, one day a week, with the first few days spent on site.

1. Diagnose the finance position

• Establish the true financial picture — cash, working capital, gross margin by product line and by channel, and the reliability of what is currently reported
• Interrogate product costing across manufactured and imported lines, including landed cost, freight, duty and carriage
• Identify the hidden costs that growth at this pace tends to bury: returns, damages, stock write-downs, carriage recovery, marketing cost per acquired customer against contribution

2. Install cash and control disciplines

• Build and run a 13-week cash flow forecast
• Bring stock under control — valuation, cover, slow-moving and obsolete lines, and the working capital tied up in imported goods
• Review supplier terms, purchasing authorisation and approval limits, and put a proportionate control framework in place
• Assess whether the business is capturing the grant, R&D and funding support available to a UK manufacturer investing in expansion

3. Create management reporting

• Design and deliver a monthly management pack the founder can act on — P&L, balance sheet, cash, and margin cut by product, channel and campaign
• Establish the budget and rolling forecast, with a view on the capital and capacity required by the expansion into new categories
• Set the KPI set that the incoming Financial Controller will maintain

4. Recruit and onboard a permanent Financial Controller

• Write the specification, sit on the interviews and advise the founder on the appointment
• Onboard the successful candidate and hand over the reporting and control framework you have built