Finance

The Finance function in Bentley is responsible for statutory financial reporting and controlling the financial performance of the business. Finance teams operate to control and support sales and marketing, manufacturing and engineering as well as central functions such as financial planning, treasury and investment control. The finance department has a key role to play to ensure the financial performance of Bentley is sufficient to earn the returns expected by our shareholders, Volkswagen, and capitalise on the success of the Continental GT to make our business successful for the 21st Century.

The growth Bentley is experiencing adds a further exciting dimension to a demanding discipline which will contribute significantly to the long term sustainability of the business.

The function operates teams within the following areas:

  • Planning & Reporting
  • Sales & Marketing
  • Manufacturing
  • Production
  • Engineering
  • Capital investment
  • Treasury

Planning & Reporting

The Planning function is responsible for coordinating and preparing the Short and Long Term Plans which in turn set the targets for the business for the following years. Financial Accounting has the responsibility for consolidating and reviewing the overall Finances for the Company, reporting the results internally and to VW, comparing with the Budget and Forecasting the result for the rest of the year.

Sales & Marketing

The Sales and Marketing Finance Team supports the Sales and Marketing Function, which includes both Bentley's Public Relations Team and its Parts and Accessories Department. We are located at Crewe but also provide support to our regional offices in America, Berlin, Singapore and Japan. We work closely with our Sales and Marketing colleagues to support their finance and accounting requirements whilst providing objective analysis to aid decision-making.
Our responsibilities include

  • Monitoring budgets for marketing events;
  • Involvement with pricing decisions;
  • Reporting and forecasting sales revenue, margin and variances;
  • Forecasting operational budgets;
  • Monitoring Warranty Expenditure;
  • Administering bonus and incentive schemes.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing Finance has the primary responsibility for the material costs of Production cars, a key role in any manufacturing environment. We are also responsible for the valuation of stock and for the administration of the annual stock take. In addition we control the operational budgets of various manufacturing support areas such as Purchase, Logistics, Quality and Manufacturing Engineering.

Production

Production Finance is responsible for supporting and providing financial information for the Production function covering approx 2000 people. Generating budgets and forecasts to aid the control of all production costs in particular manpower related costs to help support the effective use of production manpower. Budgets and forecasts are also generated and maintained in relation to the launch of all new production models, prior to full production.

Engineering

Within Engineering Finance we control Engineering spend and co-ordinate Project investment from approval through to delivery. We also monitor and control the unit cost of the car up to start of production. As a function our involvement begins at the concept stage of each development programme, where we are responsible for preparing the financial calculations which help to determine whether the idea is developed into a full project. We then control costs through design and development phases and provide the business with a monitor on the financial status and the impact of changes on the project targets and results.

Capital Investment

The Company's capital expenditure plans are controlled within the Capital Investment team. Requests for capital expenditure are considered at a weekly meeting and approved projects are then monitored and reported monthly. We also control the capitalisation of project expenditures and the manufacturing element of project costs, including liaison with VW on capital funding release.

Treasury

The Treasury function controls the company's cash position, co-ordinating the requirements of all areas of the business in the many currencies used within our worldwide operation.