Rutherford Cross is delighted to be working with Barratt Developments on a retained basis to appoint a Regional Finance Manager.

The Company

Barratt Developments PLC is the nation’s leading housebuilder, creating great new places to live throughout Britain. The business is acquiring land, obtaining planning consents and building the highest quality homes in places people aspire to live. This is supported by expertise in land, design, construction and sales and marketing. The company’s vision is to lead the future of housebuilding by putting customers at the heart of everything it does.

Barratt Developments builds the highest quality homes recognised by its HBF 5 Star customer rating, the only major housebuilder to have achieved this for the twelfth consecutive year. The business consists of three consumer brands, Barratt Homes, David Wilson and Barratt London, which make up the heart of the business and offer a variety of properties across the UK.

Background to the Current Opportunity

The housebuilding sector is in excellent shape with continued rise in demand. Barratt Developments’ latest results are particularly strong for the year ending June 2021 showing revenue at £4.812bn, even higher than the pre-pandemic figures recorded for the year ending June 2019. The company’s strong Net Cash position for the year of £1,317.4m as opposed to £308.2m (June 2020) and £765.7m (June 2019) allows the business to facilitate its growth plans. Barratt Developments made significant progress towards being the country’s leading national sustainable housebuilder, with an increased focus on significantly reducing its environmental impact.

Barratt Developments has a national footprint delivering new homes throughout Britain, operating from six regions and 27 operating divisions.  The Scotland region is made up of three dual branded Housing Divisions: North, East and West, along with the Group’s timber frame manufacturing subsidiary.  Winner of the Home Builder of the Year at both the Homes for Scotland 2020/21 Awards and the 2021 Scottish Home Awards, Barratt and David Wilson Homes is the largest house builder in Scotland

The Regional Finance Manager role is a newly created position, reporting directly to the Regional Finance Director. It has been created to monitor regional results, budgets and forecasts along with analysing operational and financial information for both Regional and Group Management.  The post-holder will also work with the Regional Finance Director on the ongoing integration, reporting and future development of the Group’s rapidly expanding timber frame manufacturing subsidiary and assume responsibility for the finance requirements of a significant regeneration joint venture entity.

This position represents an exceptional career opportunity for an ambitious, driven qualified accountant, who is able to provide first class financial and operational support to a FTSE100 business. As the company continues to enjoy significant growth there is ample scope for progression both within the Region and across the wider Group.

Thoughts on the Preferred Candidate

The successful candidate will be a qualified accountant with prior experience of a financial reporting position. This individual will possess first-rate technical accounting skills with prior experience in industry. Operating successfully in a highly competitive sector, Barratt Developments has a strong commercial focus, with robust financial management and timely and accurate reporting as key requirements. The appointed individual will be motivated and well-organised, with the ability to deliver under pressure and must enjoy being at the heart of a fast-moving commercial operation. This is an excellent opportunity for a driven accountant to build and develop their career within Scotland and the UK’s largest house builder.

Position Overview

Reporting directly to the Regional Finance Director, the Regional Finance Manager will produce and analyse financial and non-financial information for the region’s 3 housebuilding divisions (North, East and West) and Oregon Timber Frame, undertaking a range of regular and ad hoc tasks to provide the information necessary to support and develop the region’s operations. The post-holder will help monitor regional results, budgets and forecasts along with analysing operational and financial information for both Regional and Group Management.

The role is primarily focussed on the regional finance management duties. However, the post-holder will also work with the Regional Finance Director on the ongoing integration, reporting and future development of the Group’s rapidly expanding timber frame manufacturing subsidiary, Oregon Timber Frame based in Selkirk. Another aspect of the role will be managing the accounts of a three way joint venture  regenerating the famous Ravenscraig steel works site.

Financial Management of Regional Housebuilding Operations

• Preparation of monthly performance reports (Regional board report and supporting schedules) for review by RFD
• Preparation of monthly dashboard reports for RFD and RMD – P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow including variance analysis and commentary, liaising with divisional finance teams
• Sales & Build: Weekly report analysing sales and build performance  and progress against quarter / half / full year targets
• Land: Collation, interrogation and submission of monthly land reports, liaising with land teams
• Performance bonds: Collation, interrogation and submission of quarterly bond returns, liaising with technical and commercial teams
• Housing Association Deals: Maintaining database of HA deals
• Interrogation of data warehouse and production and distribution of Regional analyses and trends to support RFD and RMD in optimising Regional performance
• Preparation of analyses and powerpoint presentations for key meetings
• Collation and preparation of other Regional reports as required
• Periodic review of divisional month-end files, balance sheet reconciliations, key controls operation etc
• Work with RFD to identify areas of inconsistency and potential efficiency and cost improvement across the Region
• Assist with Group and Regional business change projects as required

Oregon Timber Frame

• Review and submission of monthly management accounts and forecast
• Preparation of monthly Board Report for Regional and Group management
• Collation and interrogation of monthly demand forecasts from housing divisions for whole Group
• Completion of half year and full year consolidation reporting packs
• Work with RFD and Oregon Financial Controller on the ongoing development of financial reporting and forecasting and integration of Oregon into Barratt financial systems
• Financial modelling in support of significant expansion strategy
• Periodic review of month-end file, balance sheet reconciliations, key controls operation etc
• Work with Oregon Financial Controller on ad hoc projects and potential systems development

Ravenscraig Joint Venture

• Finance manager for Ravenscraig JV
• Set up and manage transition process from Property Development Division to Scotland Region
• Prepare monthly management accounts and cash flow forecasts
• Liaise with JV partners and deal with finance requests as required
• Support Development Director as required on finance aspects of specific commercial deals
• Prepare annual budget
• Prepare finance report for Board packs
• Prepare annual statutory accounts and draft tax computation
• Manage external audit relationship

The Individual

The position requires a qualified accountant, with experience in industry, ideally the housebuilding industry but this is not essential. The post-holder must be IT literate and highly proficient in Excel, financial modelling and PowerPoint. The ability to remain organised and think on their feet in a fast-moving, multi-tasking environment is essential. Equally as important is the confidence and ability to communicate effectively at all levels, as well as the focus and proactivity required to make sure that priorities are managed, ensuring deadlines are met. The Regional Finance Manager will need to be able to work effectively with colleagues across all the Scottish businesses and across all functions (not just finance), as well as with the Group.

This role can be based at either the East Scotland or West Scotland divisional offices, although travel to the other divisions across the region should also be expected. A summary of the key candidate requirements are as follows:

• Qualified accountant with appropriate post-qualification experience
• Strong technical foundation in accounting
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills combined with business acumen, pragmatism and a good sense of diplomacy
• Proven ability to build relationships at all levels
• Highly developed oral, written and presentation skills
• Motivated self-starter with a flexible working attitude
• A strong team player, with a desire to make a significant contribution to the Finance Department
• Prior experience of working in an industry role
• Excellent IT skills including MS office, experience of COINS helpful but not essential
• Must be able to drive and willing to attend meetings across the Region

Remuneration

Basic Salary: £ Competitive

Car Allowance: £ Competitive

Bonus: Up to 10% depending on company and personal performance

Company Pension: Matched employee / employer contributions, minimum 5%, maximum 10%

Holiday Entitlement: 34 days including bank holidays

Life Cover: Death in Service (5 * salary if part of company pension scheme, 1* salary if not part of company pension scheme)

Additional Benefits: Paid professional membership fees and annual health assessment

Working Hours: 37.5 hours per week with a flexible approach

Office Location Either: Barratt Homes East, Telford House, 3 Mid New Cultins, Edinburgh, EH11 4DH OR Barratt Homes West, 7 Buchanan Gate, Cumbernauld Road, Stepps, Glasgow, G33 6FB

Recruitment Process

• Initial interviews are with our retained advisors at Rutherford Cross
• First round interviews are with the Regional Finance Director and a Divisional Finance Director
• Second round interviews will be with the Regional Finance Director and Regional Managing Director
• Applications should be sent to Jonathan Donnelly at Rutherford Cross: [email protected]