Tewinbury Farm Hotel
Head of Finance and Commercial
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Head of Finance & Commercial
Tewinbury Group | Hertfordshire | Full-Time | Senior Leadership
ABOUT US
The Tewinbury Group is an entrepreneurial, fast-moving, family-run hospitality business growing at around 15% year on year. Rooted in farming and passionate about great hospitality, our Hertfordshire venues include Tewinbury Farm Hotel, The View (our clubhouse at Panshanger Golf Course) and Hertford House Hotel, alongside a 700-acre working farm.
Events are a significant and growing part of what we do, from light shows and pumpkin patches to large-scale festivals. We have an expanding wellness offering, including Farm Fitness on the farm, and other projects under way.
Our vision: a series of venues across Hertfordshire, rooted in farming, where our customers, our team, and our land and farm all thrive together.
THE ROLE
This is a pivotal role in our leadership team. At its heart, it is a hands-on, traditional Head of Finance position: you will own the full finance function across all group entities, including VAT, bank payments, cash flow, payroll, insurance and statutory compliance, making sure the fundamentals are accurate, well controlled and on time, every time.
Building on those foundations, you will be a trusted commercial partner to the senior leadership team, helping our leaders understand their numbers and make better decisions. You will also lead finance-related projects and technology improvements, connecting our systems and using AI and automation to build a leaner, smarter finance operation.
KEY DETAILS
- Location: Tewinbury Farm Hotel, with regular presence at The View and Hertford House
- Reporting to: Director of Strategy
- Direct reports: Senior Finance Assistant, Finance Assistant
- Contract: Full-time, permanent, 40 hours per week
- Salary: Dependent on experience, plus a profit-based bonus of circa 15%
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Core Finance, Controls & Compliance
Financial control and reporting
- Lead the finance function across all group entities, developing the team and ensuring clear processes, strong controls and appropriate segregation of duties
- Own month-end, balance sheet reconciliations, management accounts and year-end, working with our external accountants
- Maintain accurate intercompany accounting and recharges
- Prepare budgets and rolling forecasts for every venue, and report clearly on performance
- Produce board packs, financial commentary and forward-looking analysis
VAT, tax and statutory compliance
- Prepare, review and submit VAT returns for all group entities on time, in line with Making Tax Digital
- Ensure correct VAT treatment across rooms, F&B, events and ticketing, memberships, rental, property and farm income, seeking specialist advice where needed
- Oversee corporation tax, PAYE and other obligations with our external accountants
- Ensure statutory accounts and Companies House filings are completed on time
- Act as the group's main contact with HMRC, managing enquiries and compliance checks
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Bank payments and cash management
- Own the supplier payment run, ensuring every payment is accurate, approved and on time
- Maintain robust payment controls, including authorisation limits, dual approval and verification of supplier bank details
- Manage bank accounts, card processing and merchant services, with prompt reconciliation of bank, card and cash receipts
- Manage cash flow and working capital, producing regular cash forecasts
- Lead banking relationships and manage debt facilities, including covenant reporting
Payroll
- Support payroll across the group, working closely with the People team
- Oversee pension auto-enrolment and payroll-related HMRC submissions
- Ensure payroll costs are correctly allocated across entities and venues
Insurance and risk
- Own the group's insurance programme, working with our brokers on renewals and ensuring appropriate cover across property, liability, business interruption, events, vehicles and the farm
- Manage claims from notification through to settlement
- Maintain an up-to-date schedule of insured assets and sums insured
- Ensure event cover is in place, and that contractors and suppliers hold valid insurance, ahead of every event
Legal, contracts and rental income
- Work with our lawyers to review contracts and keep the business legally watertight
- Manage rental income, leases and partner agreements across the hotel and farm, including fitness and wellness providers, ensuring rents are invoiced, collected and reviewed on time
- Review and monitor third-party contracts, flagging risks and opportunities
Commercial, Projects & Technology
Commercial partnering
- Work hand in hand with sales, HR, operations and the kitchen teams so every part of the business is aligned with the P&L
- Dig into rotas, labour costs, stock and GP, and push back constructively when the numbers demand it
- Budget, price and track the profitability of every event
- Coach leaders to understand their numbers and own their budgets
Procurement
- Own procurement across the group, negotiating commercially on supplier contracts, service agreements and capital purchases
- Deliver cost efficiencies without compromising on quality
Projects and capital expenditure
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- Cost and forecast capital and building projects, tracking spend and reporting to stakeholders, our accountants and the bank
- Lead cross-functional projects where finance, systems and operations meet
- Be the finance and commercial voice in business development and major strategic decisions
Technology and automation
- Manage our finance and operational systems (currently Xero, Moss, Mews, Lightspeed, Event Temple and Microsoft 365) and develop a clear technology roadmap
- Connect systems to remove re-keying, and use Claude and Microsoft 365 to build automations that reduce manual effort
- Manage IT and other outsourced providers, including contracts and SLAs
ABOUT YOU
Essential
- Proven finance leadership experience in hospitality, ideally hotels or multi-site restaurants
- Experience managing the finances of a £10–20m turnover business, ideally through growth
- Strong, hands-on VAT knowledge across multiple entities and mixed income streams
- Experience owning payment runs, bank reconciliations and cash management, with a track record of strengthening financial controls
- End-to-end ownership of month-end, management accounts, budgets, forecasts and a finance team
- Experience of running or overseeing payroll in a multi-site business
- A highly commercial partner, as comfortable with a head chef as with a spreadsheet
- Confident with Microsoft 365, with an appetite for automation and AI
- The gravitas to challenge senior stakeholders constructively
- Comfortable in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial family business
Desirable
- CIMA preferred; other CCAB qualifications or qualified by experience considered
- Experience managing a commercial insurance programme
- Established bank relationships and experience managing debt facilities
- Familiarity with Xero, Mews, Lightspeed or comparable hospitality systems
- Experience costing capital projects and working alongside legal advisers
- Experience leading a finance systems or automation project
WHAT WE OFFER
- Salary dependent on experience, plus a profit-based bonus of circa 15%
- Private healthcare
- Subsidised Farm Fitness gym membership
- Hotel stays at Tewinbury and partner hotels as part of our research and development
- A seat at the leadership table, with genuine influence over the direction of a fast-growing business
- Meals on duty
- Employee discount across all Tewinbury Group venues
- Free on-site parking
HOW TO APPLY
Send your CV and a covering letter outlining your relevant experience and what draws you to this role to Lee-Ann Godwin, Head of People, at lee-ann@tewinbury.co.uk
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