Finance Business Partner

Role Overview:

Full-time, Permanent - Hybrid (Mid Wales or Shrewsbury based)

Wynnstay Group is seeking a commercially minded and analytically strong Retail Finance Business Partner to support the financial performance of our retail business through high-quality financial planning, analysis and business partnering.

This is a key role operating at the interface between Finance, Systems and Retail Operations, responsible for developing a deep understanding of the performance drivers across our Stores division. The successful candidate will transform complex financial and operational data into meaningful insight, enabling better decision-making across the retail network and supporting the delivery of commercial objectives.

Reporting to the Finance Director, you will work closely with operational leaders, category teams and finance colleagues to provide robust forecasting, performance analysis and financial modelling. You will play a critical role in understanding sales, margin, inventory, working capital and operational performance, helping stakeholders identify opportunities, manage risk and improve profitability.

The role requires strong technical accounting and analytical capability combined with commercial awareness and stakeholder management skills. You will work directly with ERP systems and reporting tools to interrogate data, challenge assumptions and provide recommendations that influence business performance and decision-making.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced FP&A, Commercial Finance or Business Partnering professional who enjoys working with data, influencing stakeholders and driving business performance in a fast-paced retail environment.

Responsibilities:

Lead budgeting, forecasting and planning activities for the Stores division, ensuring financial plans align with commercial and operational objectives.

Develop and maintain financial models to support store performance analysis, category profitability, scenario planning and decision-making.

Produce insightful management reporting across stores, regions, categories and key business performance measures.

Perform detailed variance analysis to identify performance trends, risks, opportunities and the root causes of financial movements.

Analyse store, category and product profitability, identifying opportunities to improve margin performance and operational efficiency.

Evaluate the financial impact of pricing decisions, promotions, product range changes and other commercial initiatives.

Support operational and commercial stakeholders with robust financial analysis and recommendations that drive improved business performance.

Work closely with inventory and supply chain teams to analyse stock performance, inventory turnover, ageing and working capital efficiency.

Identify opportunities to improve stock management, reduce obsolete inventory and optimise working capital utilisation.

Develop, maintain and monitor key performance indicators covering sales, profitability, inventory management and operational performance.

Ensure KPI definitions, reporting methodologies and performance measures are applied consistently across the Stores division.

Extract, validate and analyse data from ERP systems and reporting tools, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of management information.

Identify data quality issues, process weaknesses and reporting gaps, working with Finance and IT teams to implement improvements.

Support the development of reporting automation, enhanced analytics and improved data governance across the business.

Act as a trusted finance business partner to Stores management and commercial teams, providing insight, challenge and decision support to improve profitability and performance.

What we re looking for:

Essential:

• Professionally qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
• Strong experience within FP&A, Commercial Finance, Financial Analysis or Finance Business Partnering roles.
• Advanced Excel skills with proven experience building financial models and performing detailed financial analysis.
• Strong understanding of financial statements, profit and loss drivers, forecasting methodologies and variance analysis.
• Experience developing budgets, forecasts, management reporting and performance measurement frameworks.
• Strong analytical capability with the ability to interpret complex financial and operational data.
• Experience working directly with ERP systems and large data sets to extract, validate and analyse information.
• Ability to translate complex data into clear, concise and actionable business insight.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and challenge constructively.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage effectively with both finance and operational stakeholders

Desirable:

• Experience within retail, merchanting, distribution or multi-site operational businesses.
• Experience within agriculture, rural retail, manufacturing or commodity-linked sectors.
• Experience analysing category, product and store profitability.
• Experience analysing inventory performance, stock management and working capital.
• Experience using Power BI, business intelligence tools or advanced data visualisation techniques.
• Experience supporting ERP implementations, system upgrades or reporting transformation projects.
• Knowledge of pricing analysis, promotional effectiveness and commercial performance management.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary
• Employee Assistance Programme with BUPA
• Company profit related pay scheme
• Life Assurance x2 Salary
• 25 days annual leave plus UK bank holidays
• Employee discount at Wynnstay Stores
• Opportunity to join a supportive, values-led organisation with a turnover of £613 million and over 800 colleagues nationwide