Commercial Analyst Review

During my placement year, I worked as a commercial analyst at Bidfood, supporting the commercial and finance side of the business. Day to day, I used Power BI and Excel to analyse data. This included MPI analysis on pricing and margins, tracking supplier and customer rebates so they were claimed and reconciled properly, and managing customer contracts. A big part of the role was KAM-facing: I gave key account managers the finance and data insight they needed for their customer conversations.

Yes, quite a lot. As a commercial analyst at Bidfood, I was the dedicated finance support for 2 NAMs and over 45 KAMs, so a big group of account managers relied on me for the numbers behind their customer conversations. I handled MPI analysis on pricing and margins, tracked supplier and customer rebates so they were claimed and reconciled correctly, and managed customer contracts, mostly using Power BI and Excel. I also led customer meetings myself. One customer was spending £2–3 million a month with us, and when an issue came up on their account, I took ownership of it. It took a lot of calls with the customer, but I resolved the issue and put things in place so it wouldn't happen again. The role taught me to prioritise, communicate confidently with senior stakeholders and customers, and see problems through to the end.

Problem solving, communication, professional confidence, confidence in meetings/ on the phone.
Excel skills have developed massively. Also presenting skills.

I received a lot of support and guidance, the team around me were always open to help.
My line manager especially was great, regardless of the issue he’d always help and have my back

Everyone I worked with was lovely. The team at bidfood are hard workers willing to go the extra mile for their peers. I felt welcomed and part of the team from day one.

My placement exceeded my expectations by miles. Not only did i learn so much within the industry but I really enjoyed working with the people around me.

Yes