9am on my second day at Cadbury and I'm heading south on a train, away from Bournville. Getting on the wrong train wasn't quite the first impression I had in mind. When we do finally turn up at the office a few hours late disbelief turns to laughter and doesn't stop for the next few months, with people I have never met recognising me as 'The one who ended up in Cheltenham'.
Despite this initial mishap, I'm really enjoying my PBS Finance role, it's really varied and it has enabled me to increase my responsibility throughout the role.
I business partner the Purchasing Team who buy all the ingredients and packaging that go into our chocolate. With the recent high focus on Commodities it is more important than ever to provide the business with accurate commentaries and forecasts. I work closely with the buyers to understand where we expect to spend more or less than we expected, and why. Many external factors such as typhoons, bad harvests and alternative uses for our ingredients (such as bio fuels) all impact the raw materials that go into our confectionery.
I also work with Treasury to build up a picture of forecast Currency requirements based on what we plan to buy in from abroad. The uncertainty behind this due to new products, discontinuing products or switching sourcing locations makes this a complex task. There are large amounts of money at stake so it is crucial we take out the right cover for business needs.
Responsibility for costing new products also falls within this role. I liaise with the sourcing country to understand and accurately communicate costs to the business. The latest influx of products I had was for all the new Trident lines, as we entered the UK chewing gum market.
Outside of the role, highlights for me have been becoming an official chocolate taster, being the first to try all the new products we launch and a great graduate social life.
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