Asalamu alaikam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
I wanted to ask about the permissibility of working within the finance team or as a finance business partner for companies that offer food services and catering solutions to the public and to other companies/institutions.
A big part of my job will be looking at stakeholder management, budgets, forecasts, costing and understanding/managing KPIs, in addition to anything else a business partner would do.
I will also be working on creating/maintaining good business relationships, which in turn will secure food service contracts. I will have no input in delivering these services, only winning more business.
An example of such a company is the Compass Group, which offers catering services as well as cleaning solutions and food management for clients. As this company operates in the West, there is the obvious assumption that haram food/drink will form part of these contracts with suppliers in addition to vegan/gluten free options to cater for the wider audience.
Would such a job be permissible for me?
Jazak’Allah khair.
Wasalam wr wb
May Allah bless you.
When you say finance business partner, do you mean as in a partnership where your company is providing capital for a return through profits? or do you mean by providing interest based loans?
Asalamu alaikam,
Thank you for the reply. All i am doing is working with the business to find customers who we can deliver food services to. As a business partner, i am providing analysis for them to increase revenue and reduce costs, but my concern is the nature of the business. It is in the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industry and being based in the UK, they will also be providing both halal and non-halal food options. Below is a job spec:
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· Deliver analysis of key business reporting such as month end reports, business reviews, client reports, budgets, flash forecasts and other ad-hoc analysis to be discussed at monthly/weekly reviews.
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· Track inflationary increases and the impacts to both internal and external stakeholders and be able to make decisions to mitigate risk where possible.
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· Assist in training of operational teams in the use of business reporting and KPIs to understand and improve their financial performance
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· Monthly balance sheet review for area of responsibility, escalating key risks and opportunities to senior stakeholders
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· Be responsible for the budgeting and forecasting process by consolidating the budget, understanding variances and preparing the budget presentation for senior stakeholders
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· Produce costings of new products and calculating impacts to key stakeholders and manage the impact of this to the factories.
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· Monitoring initiative delivery plan, challenging operational teams and where there is a risk to achievement, highlighting to senior stakeholders
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· Be a key part of future planning and strategic decision making; both in terms of volume growth and forecasting the associated costs.
Is it permissable for me to apply for such a job and work in this industry?
Jazak’Allah khair.