Barking Cat is Steve Webster, a commercial operator running retail and ecommerce P&Ls since 1999: UK, EU, US and GCC markets, apparel and footwear, consumer electronics, homewares and publishing, from fast fashion to premium heritage brands, in start-up, founder-led, PE-backed and PLC ownership. He has run the build, not observed it, which matters in a market full of advice from people who have never traded a P&L through a bad quarter.
Barking Cat is a commerce advisory practice for retail and consumer businesses: strategy, proposition and the commercial operating model behind them. We help you drive the best performance from the investments you have already made, choose the next ones well, and navigate the industry noise. The work runs from reviewing what is already built, the platforms, the agencies, the roadmap and the spend, through the engagements that follow.
The chairman is Casper. He sits above the operation, declares loudly and often, and is compensated in freeze-dried chicken hearts, a rate he negotiated up from Dreamies and has never discounted since. The firm’s pricing policy is modelled on his example. He does not attend client meetings. He does, however, appear on this page, mid-declaration, because a practice named after an impossible cat should at least introduce you to the possible one.
