The Basic Ingredients Ltd
Managing Director
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MANAGING DIRECTOR
London | Hybrid (minimum 3 days on-site)
Base salary from £120,000, plus a profit-linked bonus — total package typically £180,000, inclusive of pension
About us
Established in 2018, The Basic Ingredients Ltd is a clean-label food company headquartered near Tower Bridge, London. We own Emma Basic — an E-number-free food brand for home cooking.
Emma Basic is sold in more than 1,000 bricks-and-mortar shops, including Whole Foods Market, Selfridges, and City'Super in China, as well as online stores.
We're now looking for a Managing Director to run the company day to day.
The role
This is a genuinely hands-on MD role, not a strategy-deck job. You'll take full P&L responsibility for the business and lead a team of around a dozen people across commercial, finance, food safety, and people & culture. Our founder remains closely involved in product development and marketing as Chair.
We run an upside-down structure: the MD isn't there to give orders. The job is to watch, listen, allocate resource, and put the right training and mentoring in place — full P&L ownership, but a coach's style rather than a boss's. Every member of the team is the expert in their own field. Your responsibilities in Section 4 are there to verify, validate, and reduce commercial, financial, and food safety risk — not to micromanage.
What we're looking for
- No university degree required — we care about what you've contributed, not where you studied.
- A hands-on leadership style — you lead by example, not from behind a desk.
- Working knowledge of GFSI food safety standards (e.g. BRCGS Global Standards).
Your Responsibilities
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| Frequency | Type | Sector | Task |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | Review & Approval | Commercial | Sales contracts raised by the Sales Account Manager for bespoke products and high-volume supply commitments |
| Daily | Review & Approval | Commercial | Purchase orders raised by the Inventory Buyer |
| Monthly | Review & Approval | Commercial | Supply account and purchase decisions submitted by the Category Buyer |
| Monthly | Review & Approval | Finance | Staff expenses and consultant invoices |
| Monthly | Review & Approval | Finance | Forwarding, storage and delivery fees |
| Monthly | Review & Approval | Commercial | Sales analysis by account and by item, reviewed one-to-one with each Sales Executive |
| Monthly | Organise & Report | Commercial | Organise the monthly P&L review meeting and report performance (P&L and progress against the 5-year growth plan) to the Chair/Board |
| Monthly | Review & Approval | Finance | Short-dated stock, past-BBD stock, and stock with quality issues |
| Weekly | Attend & Instruct | Finance | Monday cash flow meeting |
| Yearly | Attend & Instruct | Commercial | Physical stock take |
| Yearly | Review & Approval | Finance | Credit limits for all customer and supplier accounts |
| Yearly | Task Allocation | HR | Annual half marathon, Christmas party, trade shows |
| Yearly | Attend & Instruct | HR | BASIC-60 Job Competency Assessment |
| As needed | Review & Approval | HR | Employment reference requests for leavers |
| Yearly | Review & Approval | Food Safety | BRCGS Grade AA / IFS certification audit and corrective actions |
| Yearly | Attend & Instruct | Food Safety | Project-manage and attend the annual GFSI (BRCGS/IFS) audit |
| As needed | Attend & Instruct | HR | Grievances, disciplinaries, and other employment matters |
| Yearly | Compliance | Compliance | Sign off annual accounts and Companies House filings (e.g. confirmation statement) |
| Yearly | Review & Approval | Compliance | Insurance renewal (e.g. public/product liability) and Health & Safety oversight |
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Key Performance Indicators
- Keep year-on-year revenue growth at 15% or above.
- Keep staff turnover under 20% a year.
- Keep stock write-offs under 0.5% of turnover.
- Maintain GFSI accreditation at BRCGS Grade AA (or IFS 96.5%+).
- Evaluate and contract a third-party logistics (3PL) provider that takes ownership of stock.
What's on offer
- Base salary from £120,000.
- Annual bonus linked to company profit performance, plus additional awards for top-tier food safety certification and recall-free years — total package typically £180,000, inclusive of pension.
- Hybrid working, minimum three days on-site.
- Commuting costs covered.
- £2,000 a year personal development fund, plus a free supply of Emma Basic products.
How to apply
- No emails, no recruitment agencies.
- Between 22 September and 1 October, every Tuesday and Thursday, you're welcome to show up unannounced. I'm looking for people who are confident, committed, and unconventional. Please come to Unit 4, New Concordia, London SE1 2BB, and ask for a meeting with me.
- If a disability means you can't make these dates or this location, message me directly here on LinkedIn to arrange another way to meet.
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