Business Manager

Are you an experienced sales professional who can lead a team to deliver sales growth and profits? We are looking for an ambitious Sales Professional, with entrepreneurial flair and the ability to drive a team to join the Education division as Business Manager for the North region. apetito are approaching a 7 year presence within the Education sector and now cater for 20,000 Children across 200 Education Settings.

The Business Managers will manage a team of Key Account Managers and Client Development Managers to deliver circa £1.5-£2m of new business a year and 95% customer retention. You will support and coach team members to develop knowledge, skills, behaviours and, critically, to meet their sales objectives. Through the exceptional leadership of their team, the Business Manager will be responsible for the full customer journey from winning and onboarding of new partnerships through to the ongoing retention of existing partners. They will be expected to 'own' their region with autonomy, ensure achievement of clear targets and KPIs and be accountable for the profit and loss account through their teams.

This really is an exciting time to join the Education division of our business as the UK Executive Board see the Education Division as a key component of the UK growth strategy and have recently agreed significant investment in the Education division. The Business Manager will be a key member of the Education Division's Senior Leadership Team and have scope to appoint, grow and shape their teams for this next chapter, and beyond. The Business Manager is a demanding but highly rewarding role, critical to delivering our ambitious goals to grow the business to £25m annual turnover in the forthcoming years and continue to increase market share, within a £500m+ target market, while playing a key part our mission to 'revolutionise school catering.'

Responsibilities:

• The Business Manager will have responsibility for recruitment, day to day management and ongoing motivation and development of their regional team.
• Exceptional Leadership to deliver agreed new business growth.
• Through the exceptional leadership of their team, each Business Manager and their collective team will be expected to generate new business of £1.5-2m+ pa.
• They will create a regional sales strategy with their team designed to achieve long-term accelerated growth in line with our vision.
• The role will offer an exceptional candidate the opportunity to build, develop and support their team to deliver their business plans.
• The Business Managers will work closely to support and challenge each other and share ideas, successes and failures.
• Accelerate business retention to 95% and beyond.
• Develop and promote a culture of making a real difference and a passion for service to our partners.
• Driving growth financially and enhancing senior stakeholder relationships with partners.
• Support the team of CDM's with key negotiations and continue to evolve our retention proposition to create greater levels of value.
• Opportunities for creating competitive advantage should be sought at every opportunity.
• Networking and engagement.
• As such the Business Manager will be required to identify opportunities to network and promote apetito across their region.
• Within their area they will be tasked with being the face of apetito and the 'go to' contact for their team, key prospects, key customers and internal stakeholders.
• Challenge our proposition.
• By presenting constructive challenge and ideas, you and the broader SLT will be responsible for refining and improving the proposition over time to offer greatest value across a broad range of key stakeholder groups.
• This will drive continuous improvement of sales conversion and customer retention rates.

About you:

• Essential:

• Significant commercial experience.
• Experience leading sales and retention teams.
• Proven experience of achieving sales targets - a focus on target achievement.
• Confident line manager who inspires, motivates and challenges their team.
• Demonstrate great leadership and coaching ability.
• Experience working with c-suite stakeholders and decision makers.
• Empathy and understanding of our culture of 'making a real difference'.
• Demonstrate excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Highly organised with excellent time management.
• Experience negotiating at Board level.
• Ability to think strategically and implement key actions/decisions.
• Valid UK driving licence.

• Experience within the catering industry.
• Education sector knowledge.

• Able to demonstrate gravitas and credibility with senior stakeholders.
• Resilient, tenacious and determined - persistent in pursuit of achievement.
• Strong team working skills at all levels within an organisation, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and excellence in delivery.
• Passion for this role and the business that we operate.

Due to the geography of this role and the nature of working with customers in school and nursery settings, flexibility with working hours will be needed. Travel to customers across the region and to national events, including overnight stays, will be a regular requirement - typically 1 night per week. A company car is provided to facilitate this and a clean (or virtually clean) driving licence is essential. As this role involves working in settings with children it is exempt from The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and requires an Enhanced DBS.

Company Benefits:

• Competitive salary - accredited Living Wage employer.
• Company car.
• 25 days holiday per year, plus bank holidays.
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days holiday per year.
• Generous annual bonus scheme.
• Pension scheme - employer matched contributions up to 5%.
• Life assurance scheme worth 2x annual salary.
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas.
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts.

Our Values:

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of. We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers. We are driven by a passion for service and dedicated to feeding some of the UK's most vulnerable people. We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040. Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer. We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds. Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we're on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Nottingham NG12 3EQ.