Hire with clarity, pace and confidence
Hiring into a finance team is one of the highest-leverage decisions a finance leader makes. Get it right and you gain insight, control and capacity. Get it wrong and you lose months: to a re-hire, to a counter-offer, or to someone who looked right on paper and was wrong for the role.
This guide brings together what we see on finance hires across the South West: how to design the team before you write the advert, what to pay in 2026/27, how to assess candidates consistently, how to run a two-stage process that targets shortlist to offer within two weeks, and how to stop a good offer being undone by a counter-offer.
It’s written for FDs, CFOs, Financial Controllers and Heads of Finance in SMEs and mid-market businesses across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Bath, particularly in FMCG, food & drink, retail & hospitality and manufacturing & engineering. Use the checklists, borrow the questions and adapt the plans to your own process.
Eliot Acton, Founder, Gravitate Recruitment
Start with the team, not the vacancy
Many finance teams grow by accident: a mix of legacy roles, gap-fillers and reactive hires. Before you replace a leaver or add headcount, decide what the team needs to deliver, then hire for that.
Design around outcomes, not job titles
- Start with the future state. What will finance need to deliver in 12–24 months: tighter reporting, better forecasting, commercial support, a systems change, an exit or investment?
- Find the capability gaps across reporting, planning, commercial partnering, systems and leadership.
- Think in layers: strategic, operational and transactional. Know which layer this hire strengthens and what it frees others to do.
Driver or doer?
A common misstep is hiring a doer when you need a driver, or the reverse. Be clear about:
- The strategic scope of the role
- Whether you’re hiring for scale, transformation or stability
- How much of the role is proactive versus responsive
| Strategic | Direction, funding, investor and board reporting, commercial decisions | Finance Director, Head of Finance, FP&A |
|---|---|---|
| Operational | Month-end, controls, cash, business partnering, reporting to the business | Financial Controller, Finance Manager, Finance Business Partner, Financial and Management Accountants |
| Transactional | Ledgers, reconciliations, payables, receivables, payroll and credit control | Accounts assistants, ledger, payroll and credit control teams |
Before you approve the next hire, ask:
- What problem are we solving with this hire?
- How will this role scale as the business grows?
- What should they deliver in the first 90 days?
- Have we built a process that reflects the calibre we want to hire?
- Who is responsible for onboarding, and is the plan ready?
South West finance salaries 2026/27
Annual base salary bands for qualified finance professionals in permanent roles across the South West, including Bath and excluding Bristol, split by size of business.
| Role | SME | Larger business | £40k£70k£100k£130k£160k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management Accountant | £42–58k | £46–62k | |
| Financial Accountant | £45–62k | £50–70k | |
| Finance Manager | £52–70k | £60–80k | |
| Finance Business Partner | £50–68k | £55–78k | |
| FP&A Manager | £58–78k | £70–95k | |
| Financial Controller | £60–85k | £75–110k | |
| Head of Finance | £70–95k | £85–115k | |
| Finance Director | £90–135k | £110–160k |
SME Larger business Source: Gravitate South West salary guide 2026/27. Qualified hires, permanent base salary excluding bonus and benefits, South West excluding Bristol. Compiled October 2026 from Gravitate placement and offer data, live 2026 South West adverts, published 2026 salary guides and ONS ASHE 2025 (provisional). Head of Finance evidence for larger businesses is limited.
These bands combine Gravitate’s recent placement and offer data with live permanent South West finance adverts from 2026 (Bristol excluded), cross-checked against published 2026 salary guides and the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025 provisional results for the South West.
Figures are annual base salary for qualified (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) permanent hires. They exclude bonus, car allowance, pension and other benefits. “SME” and “larger business” reflect the scale and complexity of the finance function rather than a strict headcount cut-off. Head of Finance is a new row for 2026/27.
Using the bands
- Benchmark before you advertise, and agree the range with whoever signs off the offer.
- Sector, scope, team size, systems, hybrid pattern and commute all move the number within a band.
- Price the role for the person you need in 18 months, not the one who left.
- Strong candidates with competing offers often sit in the upper half of the band.
- Want a benchmark for a specific role? We’ll give you one on a 30-minute call.
The package beyond base salary
Finance candidates compare whole offers, not just base salary. When two offers are close on base, the package, the flexibility and the route to the next role usually decide it.
Financial
Pension above the statutory minimum, bonus or profit share, car allowance, salary sacrifice and employee discounts.
Health
Private medical cover, life assurance, enhanced sick pay, cycle-to-work and gym or fitness support.
Wellbeing
An Employee Assistance Programme, mental health support and a manageable month-end, not just a policy.
Flexibility
A clear hybrid pattern, flexible hours, holiday (including buy and sell), enhanced parental leave and volunteering days.
Progression
Study support and exam leave for ACA, ACCA or CIMA, CPD, mentoring and a visible route to the next role.
Pension minimum
Under auto-enrolment, the legal minimum is 8% of qualifying earnings in total, with at least 3% paid by the employer.Source: GOV.UK, Workplace pensions
What makes a package land
- Be clear what the package is for: attraction, retention or both.
- Ask your current team which benefits they value and actually use.
- Within budget, let people tailor the mix to their own needs.
- Spell it out in the advert and the offer letter, not just the handbook.
- Walk new starters through it properly at onboarding.
- Review it every year against what candidates are asking for.
Finance-specific tips
- State the hybrid pattern plainly, for example “three days in the office”. “Flexible working” on its own invites questions you could have answered.
- For part-qualified hires, study support and exam leave can matter as much as base salary.
- For senior hires, be ready to discuss bonus structure and how performance is measured.
- Put the package on one page in the offer so it’s easy to compare with a counter-offer.
Brief the role and write a spec that sells
Unclear briefs lead to misaligned shortlists, wasted interviews and false starts. Vague specs fail to attract the people you want, and the best candidates won’t apply to a role that lacks clarity or ambition.
Starting without a clear brief
- Define the role’s outcomes, not just its responsibilities.
- Agree with stakeholders what success looks like at 6 and 12 months.
- Separate the non-negotiables from the nice-to-haves.
- Agree who decides, the salary range you’ll sign off and two sets of interview dates before you start.
A spec that reads like an internal wish list
- Write for the reader: what’s in it for them?
- Keep it focused, with no more than six core responsibilities.
- Include the impact, the growth potential and the team context.
- State the salary range, location and hybrid pattern.
Assuming the job sells itself
- Share the “why now” that makes this an exciting opportunity.
- Let candidates meet the people they’ll work with.
- Be clear about development, visibility and strategic value.
Before the advert goes live, write a one-page employee value proposition that answers the questions every good finance candidate asks:
- What does the business do, and where is it going?
- Why does this role exist now?
- What does success look like at 12 months?
- Who is in the team, and who will they report to?
- What are the package, hybrid pattern and progression?
- What will they learn here that they can’t learn elsewhere?
Know what great looks like: the Gravitate Baseline
Technical strength is expected in a qualified finance hire. What separates great from good is commercial judgement, initiative and the confidence to influence, not just report.
Traits top performers share
- Strategic awareness and commercial acumen
- Comfort with systems, automation, analytics and AI tools
- Proactive, not just reactive
- Stakeholder confidence: they influence, not just report
- In hybrid teams, the initiative and autonomy to work without close supervision
Interview for mindset and adaptability, not just qualifications.
Spot leadership potential
Your future finance leadership team may already be in your business, but only if you hire with that potential in mind. Look for self-awareness, communication range and resilience. Weigh sector experience sensibly: problem-solving in a similar environment counts as much as an identical CV.
- “What kind of culture brings out your best?”
- “When did you lead others without formal authority?”
- “Tell me about a number you had to defend to a non-finance colleague.”
- “What would have to change in your current role for you to stay?”
Every candidate we introduce is assessed against five equally weighted criteria. It keeps shortlists consistent, so you compare like with like.
Proactivity
Takes ownership of problems and improvements without waiting to be asked.
Accountability
Owns their numbers, deadlines and mistakes, and fixes what’s theirs to fix.
Commitment to the role
Wants this role for reasons it can satisfy, not just the salary.
Communication
Explains the numbers clearly to finance and non-finance colleagues.
Technical background
Has the qualifications and hands-on experience the role needs from day one.
Free download: score every candidate 1–5 on each criterion with the Gravitate interview scorecard: gravitaterecruitment.co.uk/assets/gravitate-interview-scorecard.pdf
Targeting shortlist to offer within two weeks
Strong candidates judge you by your hiring process. If it’s messy, slow or vague, they’ll assume the same about your team. Most finance processes don’t lose candidates at interview; they lose them in the gaps between interviews.
Inconsistent interviews
Each interviewer does their own thing, with different questions and no clear scoring.
- Plan a structured process from the start
- Use the same scorecard and criteria for every candidate
- Brief interviewers on what each stage assesses
Poor communication
Delays, silence and vague updates frustrate candidates and damage your reputation.
- Set and share timelines at the start
- Give feedback quickly, even if it’s a no
- Make one person responsible for candidate contact
Slow decisions
Finance professionals are often interviewing elsewhere. If you wait, you miss out.
- Book feedback slots before interviews happen
- Let the hiring manager move quickly at offer stage
- Treat hiring like a pipeline: momentum matters
A shortlist-to-offer plan for a two-stage process
What the two weeks cover: the clock starts at the shortlist. Briefing, research, outreach and screening happen before it. It relies on interview slots held in diaries and prompt decisions, and start dates then depend on notice periods. It is a target to plan around, not a guarantee.
A third stage “just to be sure”: if you need one, the first two weren’t designed to answer the right questions. Waiting to compare: holding a strong candidate for one more CV usually costs you the strong candidate. Offer sign-off: if the MD or group must approve, get the range approved before interviews start.
Counter-offers: plan for them before you make the offer
You can’t stop a counter-offer being made. You can reduce the chance that it works, and that work starts long before the offer letter.
of Gravitate’s own recent finance offers across the South West met a counter-offer.
That’s our own experience, not a market-wide figure. The people worth hiring are, by definition, people their current employer doesn’t want to lose.
Find out why they’re really moving, at first interview
“Career progression” is a heading, not a reason. Ask what would have to change for them to stay. If the answer is mostly money, treat the hire as higher risk: money is the easiest thing to fix on resignation day. Scope, reporting line, manager, commute or a business that isn’t investing in finance make for a more durable move.
Ask the counter-offer question directly
Before final stage, ask: “If your employer offered you more to stay, what would you do?” Ask early and without pressure. A hesitant answer isn’t a reason to stop; it’s a reason to address the gap before the offer.
Shorten the gap between final interview and offer
Doubt creeps in after the final interview, and that’s when a current employer hears someone is looking. Agree the range and sign-off before final interviews so you can make a verbal offer within 24–48 hours.
Make the offer about the job, not just the number
Repeat back what the candidate told you they wanted: the scope, the systems project, the route to Financial Controller, the hybrid pattern. Put it in writing. That’s what they’ll weigh against a counter-offer.
Stay close through resignation and notice
Agree that the candidate will call you after they resign. During notice, keep in touch: a call from their new line manager, an invitation to meet the team, early sight of the first 90 days. Silence for a three-month notice period is the counter-offer’s best friend.
We ask the counter-offer question at screening, flag the risk on each shortlisted candidate, and plan the offer and the resignation conversation with you. It doesn’t remove the risk. It reduces it, and it means you’re never surprised.
Permanent or fixed-term contract?
Gravitate recruits permanent and fixed-term contract (FTC) finance roles only. We don’t place day-rate interim contractors, but an FTC is often the right way to cover a gap with a properly assessed, committed hire.
Choose permanent when
- The need is ongoing and part of how the team will run
- You’re building capability or planning succession
- The role owns outcomes: Financial Controller, Head of Finance, FD
- You want the hire to shape the team and its processes
Choose an FTC when
- You need parental leave or long-term absence cover
- There’s a systems, ERP or reporting implementation to deliver
- There’s a defined project: an integration, restructure or audit clean-up
- Budget is approved for a fixed period only
Making an FTC work
- Brief it like a project. Define the deliverables and what “done” looks like.
- Set the length to the work, plus time for a handover.
- Benchmark base salary against the permanent bands in this guide.
- Be clear about what happens next: whether extension or a permanent role is possible.
- Start early. Notice periods still apply, so allow for them in your cover plan.
- Onboard properly. A fixed-term hire needs to be productive quickly.
Employers must not treat fixed-term employees less favourably than permanent employees doing the same or largely the same job, including on pay and benefits, unless there is a good business reason. Anyone on fixed-term contracts for four or more years automatically becomes permanent unless the employer can show a good business reason not to. Source: GOV.UK, Fixed-term employment contracts. General information, not legal advice.
Onboarding for impact: the first 90 days
Hiring doesn’t stop at offer acceptance. Weak onboarding leads to disengagement, poor early performance and even dropouts before day one. Great onboarding aligns expectations early and speeds up the value your hire delivers.
Keep in touch from acceptance to day one: a call from the line manager, an invitation to meet the team, early sight of the 90-day plan. Have systems access, equipment and a named buddy or mentor ready before they arrive, and book the first check-ins with leadership.
Learn
- Meet the key stakeholders in and outside finance
- Shadow a full month-end and the reporting calendar
- Understand the systems, controls and known issues
- Agree the metrics they’ll be measured on
Contribute
- Take ownership of a reporting area or process
- Deliver a first quick win for confidence and credibility
- Check in with leadership on progress and priorities
Deliver
- Deliver against the agreed metrics
- Propose improvements from a fresh perspective
- Hold a formal 90-day review and set objectives for the next six months
Your 30-60-90 plan should include
- Key stakeholders to meet
- Metrics to aim for
- Check-ins with leadership
- Quick wins for confidence and credibility
Onboarding is step 7 of our methodology. We stay close to you and your new hire through the notice period and the first weeks, checking progress and smoothing early challenges, so small issues are dealt with before they become reasons to leave.
Seven steps from brief to day one
Gravitate is a specialist finance recruitment consultancy based in Exeter. Every finance hire follows the same repeatable process, from Management Accountant to Finance Director, permanent and fixed-term. More on how we work.
Pre-hire discovery / strategy briefing
A 30-minute brief: technical requirements, culture, what success looks like, the salary range you’ll sign off, who decides and two sets of interview dates. We also look at where your current process loses people.
Pre-hire preparation / EVP
We define your employee value proposition in a one-page summary that sells the opportunity, refine the job specification and optimise the advert.
Pre-sourcing research & market mapping
Our network plus digital tools to map active and passive candidates who match the brief, not just the most visible ones.
Sourcing outreach
Direct, consultative approaches to people who may not be looking but fit your business. We ask about motivation and counter-offer risk from the first call.
Shortlist presentation
Three or four standout candidates, each assessed against the Gravitate Baseline. Quality before quantity, then a two-stage interview process.
Offer management
Advice on the package, expectations managed on both sides, and the counter-offer planned for before resignation day.
Onboarding
We stay close to you and your new hire through notice and the first weeks, checking progress and smoothing early challenges.
Targeting shortlist to offer within two weeks
The target on our structured two-stage process, with one specialist from brief to start date. Sourcing happens before the shortlist; timing relies on prompt decisions.
Eliot Acton, Founder
Eliot has recruited finance professionals for over 10 years, including running a South West qualified finance recruitment operation from Exeter from 2017, and founded Gravitate in 2022 on a simple observation: most growing businesses lose more time and money to a weak hiring process than to the market itself. One specialist runs every brief, from first call to start date.
- Areas: Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Bath
- Sectors: FMCG, food & drink, retail & hospitality, manufacturing & engineering
- Roles: Management Accountant to Finance Director, permanent and FTC
“So much more than introducing a candidate, the value that Gravitate have brought to making our hiring process more robust and effective is tangible”
“The hiring process with Gravitate was completely different to our previous experience with other recruiters. More consultative and informative. A true business partner and a pleasure to work with”
Your 10-step hiring health check
Tick each statement that’s true today.
Section 1Define & align
- We’ve agreed the outcomes this hire needs to deliver.You’re hiring for impact, not just a person. Outcomes drive the spec.
- All decision-makers agree on the must-haves.Aligning early avoids derailed interviews and late-stage disagreements.
- The job spec sells the opportunity, not just the tasks.Clear, concise and written for the candidate, not just for internal sign-off.
Section 2Design the right process
- We’ve mapped the interview stages, with a purpose for each.No ad-hoc calls or vague interviews. Each stage is intentional and scored.
- Interviewers are briefed on what they’re assessing.It keeps assessment consistent, avoids duplication and gives candidates a better experience.
- Timelines are agreed, and we’re committed to them.Candidates move fast, so should you. Momentum is a competitive advantage.
Section 3Deliver a great experience
- We communicate clearly and regularly with candidates.Even between stages. Silence kills interest.
- Feedback and decisions are made within 24–48 hours.Anything longer sends the wrong message.
- We know how we’ll sell the opportunity during the process.Strong candidates are assessing you as much as you’re assessing them.
- A pre-start onboarding plan is in place.From first-day logistics to team introductions, you’re ready before they walk in.
Hiring a finance role in 2026/27?
Financial Controller for a fast-growing premium drinks brand, followed by a Credit Controller and a Management Accountant as the team scaled.
Head of FP&A (£100k) for a luxury lifestyle retail and hospitality group, followed by a Finance Operations Manager, two Financial Accountants and two Accounts Assistants – six hires into the same finance team in under a year.
Head of Finance for a £75m-turnover manufacturer scaling after recent investment.
Book a 30-minute call with Eliot Acton: the role, a salary benchmark, a realistic timeline and what the market looks like for your hire.
Gravitate Recruitment Ltd · Company no. 14202736. Salary bands are a guide, not a quote.