Fractional Finance Director — Hotel & Property Development Group

A European hybrid hotel group has gone from launch to five properties in three years and is heading for ten. It is now approaching lenders on both sides of the Channel for around £100m of debt, while running a multi-site conversion programme in parallel. It needs a senior finance figure — and it needs one now.

Why this is not a standard hotel FD role

The group buys, develops and operates. Rather than taking leases, it acquires non-prime city-centre office buildings and converts them. That makes it a property development business as much as a hospitality one, and it means capital spend, not trading performance, is the dominant financial risk.

The Chief Executive is a chartered accountant and has carried the finance brief personally since launch. Below him sits a capable Finance Manager operating at Financial Controller level with a small team; the day-to-day works well. What is missing is the layer above it.

What you will own

• The debt raise. Supporting the group and its appointed debt advisors through lender processes in the UK and France, with the French facility already at heads of terms.
• Covenant discipline. Building and owning the model that shows performance against covenants as assets open and trade, so headroom is visible long before it becomes a problem — then establishing the reporting rhythm new lenders will expect from drawdown.
• Capital expenditure control. Financial oversight of a substantial multi-site conversion programme including a two-and-a-half-year Paris scheme, with genuine challenge on cost to complete, capitalisation and phasing alongside an experienced Construction Director.
• Investor reporting. Ownership of reporting to an institutional private equity backer — detailed, not light touch — across a group structure with real cross‑border tax complexity.
• Building the function. Mentoring the Finance Manager so finance grows with the business rather than being outgrown by it.

You will sit as the finance voice on a lean senior team alongside the CEO and the Construction, Sales and Operations Directors. The CEO is explicit that he wants someone he can genuinely think out loud with.

What we need

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA).
• FD or CFO level in a growing, multi-site business.
• Hands‑on property, development or refurbishment capex experience — commercial conversions, fit‑out programmes, cost to complete, contractor payment mechanics.
• Debt experience on both sides — raising facilities, then modelling and managing covenants once drawn.
• Comfortable reporting to an institutional investor.
• The seniority and personal authority to challenge experienced operational colleagues constructively.
• Available 2–3 days per week and able to start now.

Desirable: hotel, hospitality or leisure exposure (welcome, genuinely not required); cross‑border experience, particularly France or Ireland; previous fractional or portfolio work; experience developing a Financial Controller.

The engagement

Around three days a week for the first four to six weeks while you get across the business and prepare for the lender processes, settling to a steady two days thereafter. Remote and virtual by default — the senior team is spread across several countries — but you should be able to reach London within about two hours for quarterly management meetings and occasional site visits.

This is intended as a long‑term relationship, not a project. Most FD Capital fractional FD engagements run two years or more, and there is clear scope for the commitment to grow as the portfolio doubles.