Business Development Controller

Reporting to: Head of Business Development Based: Field - National travel required

Job Summary

To lead and manage the Business Development Manager (BDM) team to deliver against brand growth objectives. This includes operational oversight, team development, process improvement, and strategic planning. The Business Development Controller (BDC) will foster a high-performance culture, drive sales growth, and ensure retailer satisfaction while maintaining brand standards.

• Lead, motivate, and manage the BDM team including coaching, mentoring, and succession planning.
• Conduct regular field visits to support BDM development and execution.
• Oversee day-to-day operations including KPIs, forecasting, budgeting, and sales performance.
• Ensure BDMs meet targets and uphold brand standards.
• Monitor and improve retailer onboarding and engagement processes.
• Drive improvements in systems, tools, and processes to increase efficiency and reduce errors.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to streamline workflows and lead change initiatives.
• Develop plans with RDC, RDM and BDMs to grow retailer weekly app sales across defined thresholds.
• Develop and build strong relationships with Heads of Retail and Retail Development Controllers to support retailer recruitment, onboarding, and ongoing sales growth for Scoot.
• Develop growth plans to focus on driving app sales and helping our retailers achieve minimum app RSP sales of £2,500 per week.
• Drive growth across the fresh, bakery and frozen category across the app, improving retailer range and availability, compliance, participation and sales performance.
• Own and develop multisite & national accounts, identifying opportunities, leading on-boarding, ensuring retailers are set up for success, and delivering sustained app sales growth.
• Develop and implement brand plans aligned with growth objectives.
• Drive sales and profit for Booker and our Scoot retailers and improve customer satisfaction.
• Work with partners to grow sales and gather feedback.
• Identify growth opportunities and execute brand expansion strategies.
• Report regularly to senior leadership on KPIs, risks, and opportunities.
• Identify and mitigate operational, financial, and reputational risks.

Experience relevant for this job

• Proven experience within Retail or Wholesale, ideally within convenience.
• Experience of leading a Field Sales Team.
• Understanding of Business to Business, commercially and financially focused.
• The ability to build credible and long-lasting business relationships.
• Proven history of effectively improving capability and driving performance within a team.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Good IT knowledge including Microsoft Office.

Skills relevant for this job

• Leading and managing a field sales team.
• Understanding customer types/relationships.
• Commercially and financially focused.
• Leading a culture of continuous improvement.

Booker is the UK's leading food & drink wholesaler. We are privileged to serve independent retailers, caterers and small businesses, from locations across the country. We operate over 190 cash and carry branches, 8 distribution centres, 5 Best Food Logistics sites, as well as 6 support centre locations across the UK.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) at Booker means that whoever you are and whatever your background, we always want you to feel represented and that you can be yourself at work. In short, we’re a place where Everyone’s Welcome.

We know life looks a little different for each of us. That’s why at Booker and Best, we always welcome conversations about flexible working. Some people are at the start of their careers; some want the freedom to do the things they love. Others are going through life-changing moments like becoming a carer, nearing retirement, adapting to parenthood, or something else. So, talk to us throughout your application about how we may be able to support you.

We’re proud that Booker is a Disability Confident Committed Leader and we’re committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. For further information on the accessibility support you can expect, please contact recruitment@bookergroup.com

Please note

We can only accept candidates over the age of 18 if the role requires working before 6:15 am or after 9:45 pm or involves working in areas such as the warehouse, beers, wines & spirits, and driving roles.

On the occasions where we have high volumes of applicants, some roles may close earlier than the advertised end date in order for us to manage all of the applicants appropriately. We will only be able to offer individual feedback to those candidates who attend an interview.

*Booker Group is part of Tesco plc, however, is operated separately from the core Tesco business and as such the benefits offered will be different from those offered at Tesco*

For more information about us please visit www.bookergroupjobs.co.uk