Commercial Finance & Cost Analyst
Location: Kirkcaldy
Base salary: £40,000 – £55,000 per annum depending on the experience & Bonus of 15% on achieving KPI’s.
Reports to: Group Financial Controller
Works closely with: Management Accountant, Operations, Trading
Role purpose:
To provide commercial insight, cost analysis and margin protection across a diversified group including convenience retail, hospitality, franchise operations, and property. The role exists to identify cost leakage, challenge supplier increases, analyse margins and support data-led decision making, ensuring that inflation, inefficiencies and poor buying decisions do not erode profitability.
This is not a reporting or bookkeeping role — it is an analytical, forward-looking role.
Key responsibilities:
Cost & margin analysis:
* Analyse costs across all business units, including:
o Cost of sales
o Labour
o Energy & utilities
o Repairs & maintenance
o Waste and shrink
* Track margin performance by:
o Site
o Format
o Product category
Supplier & procurement support:
* Maintain price trackers for key suppliers
* Analyse and challenge supplier price increases
* Support supplier renegotiations with data and benchmarking
* Identify consolidation and scale opportunities across the group
* Highlight contract drift or unfavourable terms
Commercial insight & decision support:
* Produce a monthly Cost & Margin Review pack for GFC and CFO
* Identify margin leakage and underperforming sites
* Support new initiatives with:
o Cost modelling
o Break-even analysis
o Sensitivity analysis
* Provide ad hoc commercial analysis as required
Cross-functional working:
* Work closely with:
o Operations teams
o Store and site managers
o Finance Operations
* Translate financial data into actionable insights
* Challenge operational assumptions constructively
Candidate profile:
Essential skills & qualifications:
* Strong analytical skills
* Experience in a commercial finance, cost analysis or analyst role
* Advanced Excel skills (or equivalent tools)
* Ability to explain numbers to non-finance stakeholders
* Comfortable working with large data sets and multiple businesses
Desirable skills & qualifications:
* Part-qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA)
(or qualified by experience with strong commercial background)
* Experience in retail, hospitality, food, manufacturing or multi-site environments
* Exposure to supplier pricing, cost control or margin analysis
* Power BI / reporting tool exposure
Personal attributes:
* Curious and questioning
* Commercially minded
* Confident challenging assumptions
* Pragmatic and outcome-focused
* Not afraid to ask “why has this gone up?”
Benefits:
* Weekly Pay (No more waiting for monthly pay day!)
* Colleague discount of 10% within our retail stores and Subway, and 50% within our Pizza Hut delivery sites.
* Refer a friend bonus.
* We recognise your loyalty! Your dedication is recognised with special anniversary rewards and celebrations as you grow with us.
* Be part of a high-energy, ambitious group where creativity and new ideas are encouraged, allowing you to prosper and flourish as we succeed together.
* Access to GroceryAid, a confidential support service offering emotional, practical, and financial help to people working across the entire grocery industry.
If you are a commercially minded analyst looking for a role where your insights lead directly to business decisions, we want to hear from you. This is a fantastic opportunity to join a fast-growing, multi-site business in Kirkcaldy and play a pivotal role in our continued success. To apply, please submit your CV and a brief covering letter outlining your relevant experience.