Group Accountant

HSL Compliance has a permanent requirement for an experienced Group Accountant (GA) covering a group of 25 trading entities operating across the UK.

HSL Compliance is an environmental testing, inspection, compliance and certification company (TICC), founded in 1976. The company provides a wide range of environmental compliance services. Its focus is on water hygiene, water treatment and chemical effluent treatment, with additional services covering fire safety, air quality and asbestos. The business records revenues of circa £80 million annually, with a strong and growing EBITDA and it employs circa 700 people across the UK.

In March 2025, IK Partners, a Western Europe focused private equity investor, acquired its stake from LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. LDC retained an interest in the group. HSL now plans to invest further in its current portfolio of services to accelerate organic growth and acquire complementary service lines and expand geographical coverage. This is being achieved through a targeted buy-and-build strategy in its chosen markets. The group made five acquisitions in 2024 and a further four in 2025.

The Group Accountant will have extensive group finance experience, be an excellent communicator, hard-working, have initiative and experience of using a consolidation tool will be an advantage. The position reports to the Group Financial Controller. Key contacts will be colleagues in the divisional and subsidiary finance teams and senior managers across the group. The role is hybrid, with approximately 3 days per week being office-based, mainly at our Ross-On-Wye office (just a few minutes from the M50).

Requirements:

• Educated to degree standard or equivalent.
• CCAB qualified with a minimum of five years post-qualification experience.

Skills And Personal Traits

• Organised, methodical and focused on improving processes.
• Clear communicator.
• Comfortable working under pressure and to regular and one-off deadlines.
• Able to work with initiative.
• Set up for and comfortable with home working, i.e. good, reliable internet access, dedicated home office, etc.

Experience

• Extensive group consolidation and reporting experience for a medium or large group.
• A good understanding of FRS102 and experienced in preparing group management accounts and group annual financial statements.
• The following would be advantageous:

• Experience of MS Dynamics (Business Central) including consolidation.
• Significant, advanced Microsoft Excel experience and skills.
• Able to support and manage annual group audits and to field audit queries.
• Private Equity sector experience.

Job Description:

• Group consolidation. The consolidation is being currently performed in Excel and this is a core part of the role of Group Accountant, supporting the GFC. A new consolidation tool may be implemented at some future point, but not in 2026.
• Weekly 16-week cash flow forecast consolidation plus narrative including variance analysis and understanding/challenging any large movements.
• Treasury function for the group, which has cash pooling. Setting up new bank accounts for acquisitions and other banking interactions and reporting.
• Accounting for the ultimate parent and intermediate holding companies in the group (low transaction volume) and management accounts preparation.
• Assisting the GFC with the monthly reporting cycle and other key responsibilities.
• Intercompany reconciliations of balances, loans and transactions.
• Managing the capex approval process and providing analysis of monthly expenditure.
• Other ad hoc responsibilities to be determined and reviewed ongoing.