Barking Cat, Commerce AdvisoryBarking Cat Advisory Book the conversationBook

The chairman’s office

Steve Webster: 27 years on the operator’s side of the table

Plenty of people advise retail boards on ecommerce. Fewer have owned the number. Steve Webster owned it for 27 years: ecommerce P&Ls up to £240m, marketing budgets up to £12m and teams of up to 52, in businesses from a £12m online fashion retailer to a £1bn listed one, across the UK, Europe, the US and the GCC. He has led eight replatforms and advised on many more. In 2026 he founded Barking Cat Advisory, an independent ecommerce and commercial advisory practice, to put that judgement in front of boards before they commit the money.

£240m

largest ecommerce P&L

£1bn+

largest business

8

replatforms led

52

largest team

27

years, 1999 to 2026

4

regions: UK, Europe, US, GCC

Sandhurst

Steve was selected for officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst: the British Army’s officer academy, one of the most selective in the world, and the place where future kings, sultans and emirs, from the United Kingdom to the Gulf, have trained alongside the officers who would serve them. Entry is decided by a multi-day selection board that tests leadership, judgement and composure under pressure. He also holds an MA (Hons) in Philosophy and English Literature from the University of Dundee.

Barbour, 2024 to 2026

Global Ecommerce Director, J Barbour & Sons

A £350m British heritage brand whose ecommerce channel was underperforming its name. Steve was its first global ecommerce director, owning the ecommerce P&L and sitting on the Commercial Leadership Group. He moved the business to full-price trading, replatformed it globally onto Salesforce Commerce Cloud and doubled organic search’s share of the channel, from 15% to over 30%. Profit contribution rose 60% on a flat marketing budget, priority international markets grew by more than 50%, and five-year turnover targets were met in two. A global team of 18.

Liwa, 2022 to 2024

Digital Director (Portfolio), Liwa Trading Enterprises, United Arab Emirates

A GCC fashion group operating international brands including GANT, Castore and La Senza. Steve set digital strategy across the portfolio, presented to the board and acted as its Board Secretary, replatformed the group, ran marketplace strategy across Amazon, Namshi and others, and opened ecommerce in Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. A single view of stock improved inventory efficiency by 30%, and a new exchanges service turned 32% of returns into exchanges.

eXtra, 2019 to 2022

Ecommerce Director, eXtra (United Electronics Company), Saudi Arabia

A £1bn listed business and MENA’s largest consumer electronics retailer. Over three years, and through the pandemic, ecommerce grew from £60m to £240m, including a record year of 170% growth, and digital rose from 9% to 22% of total revenue. Steve sat on the Executive Steering Group, chaired the Digital Advisory Board, replatformed the business, won board investment in brand over performance marketing, built a content function from nothing, opened Oman and Bahrain, and led the marketplace partnership with Noon. A team of 52, including development. In 2021, eXtra won the SAP Customer Experience Award.

Better Bathrooms, 2018 to 2019

Marketing and Ecommerce Director and board member, Better Bathrooms

A £60m private equity backed retailer with £30m of digital revenue across its own site, Amazon and eBay. Recruited to the board by the PE sponsor, with a £10m budget and a team of 20 across marketing, marketplaces, CRM and data.

Steinhoff UK, 2014 to 2018

Head of Ecommerce, Steinhoff UK: Bensons for Beds, Harveys Furniture and Cargo Homeshop

The UK’s largest furniture retailer: a £500m business with 400 stores, inside a global listed group. Ecommerce was marginal when Steve arrived. He set it up as its own business unit with its own P&L, replatformed Harveys, and proved digital’s effect on store sales using Google’s store visit measurement (case study). Ecommerce grew by 82% a year for three consecutive years, to £30m. He represented the UK on the group’s international ecommerce board, and ran a new direct-to-consumer mattress brand as its general manager. A team of 24.

1999 to 2014: where the operator was made

  • Boohoo. Head of Ecommerce while turnover grew from £12m to £25m: 120% year-on-year growth, and the business’s first replatform to an enterprise commerce platform.
  • Fashion Union. Head of Ecommerce, including its replatform.
  • Hotter Shoes. In a £70m footwear business, turned round the UK ecommerce channel, then replatformed and launched the US business, which was profitable within three months.
  • Hush Rituals. A premium bath, body and spa brand Steve founded and took from concept to launch.
  • Ecommerce consulting. Extensive consulting on ecommerce platform builds and optimisation for Joe Browns, Hallmark Cards, Le Creuset, Conran Store, The Music Room and others.

Named in the Online Fashion 100 in 2010 and again in 2011.

Eight replatforms, and the ninth you may not need

Hush Rituals, Boohoo, Fashion Union, Hotter US, Harveys Furniture, eXtra, Liwa and Barbour, with many more advised on along the way. Someone who has led eight replatforms is well placed to tell a board when it does not need a ninth. Should we replatform?

That record is the basis of the independent replatform assessment.

Inside £12m to £70m businesses, as well as larger ones

Steve has run ecommerce inside businesses the size many UK retailers are, not only larger ones: Boohoo while the whole business grew from £12m to £25m, Hotter’s UK and US ecommerce inside a £70m business, and a £30m digital P&L inside a £60m business at Better Bathrooms.

Recognition and credentials

How Barking Cat is paid

A fixed fee, stated in writing before instruction. Barking Cat does not implement, build, deliver, select vendors on commission or place people. A register of Steve’s advisory relationships is shared with every client before work starts, and Barking Cat does not assess or recommend a company on that register without saying so first. How Barking Cat is paid

Where else this is recorded

The chairman does not appear on this page. He has no P&L experience and declines to discuss it.

If your business sits somewhere between £20m and £100m and something is not moving, I would like to hear about it. Thirty minutes, no deck.

Contact

Thirty minutes, no deck.

Tell Steve what is not moving. If there is a problem worth solving, the conversation will find it. If Barking Cat is not the right answer, you will hear that first.

Connect on LinkedIn

BOOK THE CONVERSATION