Cost Accountant jobs in United Kingdom

We are the UK’s Number One homewares retailer offering c85,000 products building a consumer‑focused total retail business that delights customers through our multichannel operation.

We are ambitious in our plans to drive further expansion of the business to more customers, shopping more frequently, with more choice, enhanced digital and physical services, and new capabilities to innovate and operate at pace in a fast‑changing landscape. In developing the business for the long‑term benefit of our customers, we are investing in our supply chain, stores and technology to improve the customer proposition as we move forward.

Our Finance team is at the heart of strategic decision‑making, partnering closely with trading and operational teams to drive commercial success. We manage core financial processes including customer transactions, procurement, and financial reporting, while also delivering data‑driven insights that uncover trends, opportunities, and risks.

With around 90 colleagues across UK and Ireland Group Finance, we offer a unique blend of breadth and depth. Our lean structure means roles are varied and impactful, while our scale provides ample room for growth and development across different areas of finance.

We’re not just supporting the business – we’re helping to shape it. As expectations of Finance evolve, we’re shifting from transactional tasks to strategic thinking. Our team is transforming into proactive, cross‑functional advisors who use data to tell compelling stories and influence decisions.

We’re currently starting on a major finance transformation and have lots of opportunity to improve, including the implementation of SAP S/4HANA. This is a pivotal moment to help modernise our systems, enhance processes, and redefine how Finance operates across the business.

If you’re passionate about making a difference, eager to grow, and ready to help shape the future of Finance, we’d love to hear from you.

• Responsible for our financial operations – AR, AP, Banking and Insurance.
• Team management of 21 colleagues.
• Integrate shared service functions into Shared service centre – e.g. Ireland and any other new acquisitions.
• Develop and enhance KPI and dashboarding on shared services. Quarterly meeting with Group Finance Director and monthly meetings with Head of Department.
• First point of call for transactional issues.
• Embed tools and look to use AI and other tools to improve productivity.
• Own insurance relationship and do insurance renewal.
• Own Concur / Xelix / Access Pay relationships and develop accordingly.
• Period‑end reporting for transactional nominals – ensure full control and governance over nominals.
• Relationship management with business ensuring process and controls in place for transactional activities.
• Control management in conjunction with ICFR requirements.
• Look for transactional activities to move to shared service centre – e.g. bookkeeping development, payroll posting, fixed asset accounting, transactional activities.
• Change management owner for finance projects – run projects and report status, ensuring alignment with our broader business change objectives around process and technology adoption (e.g. functional changes such as Blackline, S4 etc.).
• Key to driving and supporting the S4 adoption within the function. Responsibility includes ensuring seamless integration and alignment of business processes with the new system, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and effectively managing stakeholder expectations throughout the transition. Key link into the S4 programme team.
• Any other requirements.

• Proven line manager, capable of coaching and developing team members to achieve strong performance.
• Highly effective organisational skills, logical approach and attention to detail.
• Proactive approach to self‑development and team development.
• Proven ability to work to deadlines whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy.
• Self‑motivated, resilient and able to demonstrate initiative.
• Commercially minded, with a genuine drive to make a difference.
• Good verbal and written communication skills, able to condense complex information into clear messages to gain understanding.
• Equally comfortable in the high level as the detailed and accurate and able to flex approach based on the circumstances.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and changing priorities.

Mid‑Senior level

Full‑time

Finance

Retail