Conversation with… Caitlin Barrett, managing director of Marco Paul
Caitlin Barrett’s retail career began at the age of 16 with a part-time job at Evans. Now managing director at Marco Paul, she has transformed the family-owned brand into a No.1 Trustpilot-rated ecommerce business, expanded it into Tesco, and is now preparing to enter the US market.
In this latest Conversations interview, she shares the lessons, challenges, and insights that shaped her leadership style and customer focused approach.
Caitlin and Marco Paul’s customer service and people development teams have been selected as finalists for the 2025 People in Retail Awards.
Can you tell us how your career started?
Like a lot of people in retail, I fell into it. I got my first part-time job at 16 at Evans, part of the old Arcadia Group, and I completely caught the “retail bug.” I loved the buzz, the variety, and the fact that every day was different – whether I was interacting with customers or dealing with operational challenges.
Subscribe to TRBI was meant to be on a “gap year” in 2007, but here I am still on it all these years later! Retail just pulled me in. I went through the Stepping into Management programme, worked my way up from store management to area management, and stayed in frontline retail until Covid. I was with Debenhams right until its closure, and then, like many, I had to pivot – and that’s how I moved into ecommerce.
What was the biggest shift for you moving from bricks-and-mortar retail to ecommerce?
The biggest adjustment is not having the customer physically in front of you. In stores, you know the saying “people buy from people.” You can feel the customer’s energy, and if you’ve got the right team in place, you win.
Ecommerce is completely different. The challenge is visibility – how do you get seen, how do you get known? The customer journey looks the same on the surface, but it isn’t. You have to strip it all back and build trust without that face-to-face interaction. I’m still learning every day, but I love that it keeps you on your toes.
You’re now managing director at Marco Paul. How did that happen?
I joined Marco Paul as commercial director, and at the start of this year I stepped up to managing director, which has been incredibly exciting. I’m really proud, but I try to stay grounded. My proudest achievement so far was getting my first directorial role at 30.
What makes Marco Paul special is that it’s still a family-owned business with heritage, but we’ve also been bold enough to innovate. We’re a young leadership team, which means we don’t have all the decades of experience others might, but we make up for it with agility and drive.
How has your experience shaped your leadership style?
Resilience, without a doubt. Retail is tough, and it always has been. I’ve been made redundant three times in three years, and I once had to close 26 stores in one year. Delivering that news to so many different teams was incredibly hard, but it shaped me.
Now, I try to build resilience in the people I develop by giving them challenges where they can grow and problem-solve without real risk. For me, leadership is about supporting people through challenges and preparing them for the future.
What’s the most valuable career lesson you’ve learned so far?
Don’t get blinded by the numbers. In ecommerce, it’s so tempting to make decisions based purely on data. During Covid, Amazon sales went through the roof. We were 200–300% up. Like many, we assumed it would continue and overbought. To this day, we still have stock that reminds me of that mistake – I’ll never forget those garden gnomes!.
The lesson is that numbers don’t always tell the whole story. You’ve got to look at context, market trends, even cultural things like film releases that shift consumer behaviour. You need a blend of data, market insight, and good instinct.
Marco Paul has achieved the No.1 Trustpilot rating. What’s the secret?
Relentless focus on the customer. When I joined, our Trustpilot rating was 1.9 because it was only used by unhappy customers. I treated it the same way I’d treat a store: talk to people, listen, respond honestly, and make it routine.
We’ve built a rhythm where every decision comes back to two questions:
- Will it improve customer experience?
- Will it improve the bottom line?
If the answer isn’t “yes” to both, we don’t do it.
We also actively go back to customers after product launches to ask: What did you love? What did you hate? What would you change? It means we’re always improving, and customers feel heard. That, combined with transparency and the occasional phone call to an unhappy customer, has built real trust.
The business is growing fast. What’s next for Marco Paul?
We’ve recently launched in Tesco, which is huge for us – not just selling via their marketplace, but being registered as a Tesco brand. That was a personal milestone, because in my interview I said I’d know I’d succeeded when we were in one of the Big Four.
The biggest upcoming milestone is our expansion into the US. We’re preparing to launch with Walmart in time for Christmas 2025, which is a massive step. It’s been complex behind the scenes, but the opportunity is enormous.
We’ve also invested heavily in our own website and direct-to-consumer channels this year. It’s about spinning a lot of plates but always keeping the customer at the centre.
With such a big role, how do you balance work and your personal life?
Work-life balance is vital for me, and for my team. I live with a disability, which means I need to be mindful of my energy and wellbeing. That’s why I put such emphasis on building a strong, empowered team who can run things without me.
We have routines like “Fun Friday” in the warehouse, wellness breaks, and making sure people take proper rest. Productivity is higher when people are cared for.
Personally, I love wild swimming. I grew up in the Highlands, so it’s always felt natural. I also spend time exploring Scotland on the back of a motorbike with my wife, or sometimes just playing Mario Kart on Nintendo Switch! It’s about finding balance between adventure, wellness, and downtime.
Finally, what drives you as a leader?
People. Whether it’s bricks-and-mortar retail, ecommerce, or managing a warehouse team, everything comes back to people. Invest in them, trust them, and empower them. They’re always your biggest asset.
Join us in London on 15 October for Retail Ecom Connect. Find out more and register for free places here
