At a Glance
- Tasks: Support investment projects by building financial models and presenting insights to senior stakeholders.
- Company: Join Halfords, a leader in motoring and cycling innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, hybrid working, employee discounts, and personal development opportunities.
- Other info: Dynamic environment with opportunities for career growth and inclusion.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on Halfords' future while gaining hands-on experience.
- Qualifications: Qualified accountant with strong Excel modelling skills and effective communication.
The predicted salary is between 40000 - 50000 £ per year.
About us
At Halfords, our mission is to inspire and support a lifetime of motoring and cycling. As a specialist retailer, we lead the market through customer-driven innovation and a distinct product range. We are dedicated to providing our customers with an integrated, unique, and convenient service experience—from e-bike and electric vehicle servicing to on-demand solutions. Our commitment is to foster customer loyalty by offering compelling reasons to keep coming back to our stores, ensuring a lifetime of motoring and cycling enjoyment.
The teams at our Redditch Support Centre work with every other area of our business, putting them at the heart of the action and playing a key role in our success and growth. Everyone brings their individual knowledge and experience to work every day, working as one team to keep things moving smoothly.
If you’re willing to get stuck in, you’ll love it here too. So put yourself at the heart of a dynamic, fast-paced working environment where expertise and focus take people far.
NOTE: This role is a 12 Month Fixed Term Contract
The role
As a Finance Business Partner in our Commercial team, you'll play a central role in supporting an accelerating programme of investment across our store and digital estate. This is a 12 month fixed term contract with a project-focused remit, sitting embedded within project teams and providing the financial modelling, analysis, and commercial challenge that helps the business make confident decisions about where and how it invests.
The bulk of your time will be spent building and refining Excel models, tracking actuals as projects progress, and presenting findings to senior stakeholders in a way that makes complex financial information accessible and actionable. With 16 projects planned this year alone as part of a broader two to three year roadmap, there is plenty to get stuck into from day one.
This is a hands-on role with real visibility, where your work will directly influence decisions about what Halfords' retail estate looks like in the future. You'll get exposure to directors and senior leaders, occasional travel to stores to see the impact of changes first hand, and the opportunity to be genuinely close to the action rather than reporting from a distance. If you're a strong modeller who enjoys being embedded in the business and wants a finance role with a different feel to it, this is a great opportunity to get stuck in.
Key responsibilities
- Provide dedicated finance business partnering support across a portfolio of retail estate and distribution centre investment projects, embedded within project teams and contributing to key decisions throughout the project lifecycle.
- Build, maintain, and continuously refine financial models in Excel that support investment appraisals, scenario planning, and project tracking.
- Track actuals as projects progress, comparing performance against models and providing clear, timely updates on variances, risks, and opportunities.
- Present financial models and analysis to senior stakeholders including directors, translating complex outputs into clear and accessible insight that supports informed decision-making.
- Support the acceleration of the project roadmap, ensuring finance is a proactive and valued partner across all active projects.
- Contribute to the development of commercial business cases and investment appraisals, challenging assumptions and ensuring financial rigour throughout.
- Engage with store teams and operational colleagues during site visits, gathering feedback and grounding financial analysis in operational reality.
About you
- A qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with strong, demonstrable experience in financial modelling, with Excel as your primary tool.
- Comfortable building models from scratch and presenting them confidently to senior and director level stakeholders, with the ability to explain complex financials in plain language.
- An effective business partner who can build credibility and trust quickly within project teams and across a broad stakeholder group.
- Detail-oriented and analytically rigorous, with a track record of producing accurate and well-structured financial models under pressure.
- Comfortable working in a project environment with multiple workstreams running simultaneously, able to manage your own priorities without close direction.
- Hands-on and adaptable, happy to get out to stores occasionally and engage with the operational side of the business to inform your analysis.
- Power BI experience is a bonus, though not essential for this role.
Reward & benefits
- A fair and competitive salary evaluated against market data, annual discretionary bonus scheme, pension, life assurance, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and enhanced family leave.
- Commitment and dedication to your ongoing personal and professional development. We help you to own and grow your potential so you can be at your best in your current role and to support your future career aspirations.
- We offer hybrid working with a blend of working in our Support Centre and from home.
- You will have access to a wealth of employee discounts across the Halfords suite of products and services.
- Wellbeing and inclusion are at the heart of our colleague experience. We offer resources and ongoing support to enhance your wellbeing at work and active Colleague Networks supporting inclusion initiatives across Halfords.
Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family.
At Halfords, we operate a 3 days per week on-site hybrid working policy at our Support Centre in Redditch Worcestershire.
Finance Business Partner (12 month FTC) employer: 12 month FTC
At Halfords, we pride ourselves on being an excellent employer, offering a dynamic and inclusive work environment at our Redditch Support Centre. With a strong focus on employee growth, we provide comprehensive development opportunities, competitive benefits, and a commitment to wellbeing, ensuring that every team member feels valued and supported. Join us to be part of a collaborative culture where your contributions directly influence the future of motoring and cycling in the UK.
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We think this is how you could land Finance Business Partner (12 month FTC)
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We think you need these skills to ace Finance Business Partner (12 month FTC)
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