About Buying and Beyond

Buying and Beyond is a consultancy designed to support retailers, brands and investor-backed businesses to strengthen buying and product functions, build high-performing teams and deliver commercially successful ranges.

Most importantly, we help businesses grow in a sustainable and strategic way, ensuring long-term success rather than short-term fixes.

Picture of Buying & Beyond founders Lyns & Kate working on laptops

Hi! We are Katy and Lynsey

We are former Heads of Buying with decades of experience leading commercial success at large UK retailers, supporting retail businesses, buyers and brands to grow

With over 32 years of combined experience at senior levels across brands such as Monsoon Accessorize, Marks & Spencer, Moonpig, Hobbycraft, and Dobbies Garden Centres, we’ve led buying through growth phases, shifting consumer demands, delivered commercially successful ranges and developed teams. We know what it takes to deliver results in fast-paced retail environments.

Our experience working across multiple business sizes and a wide variety of product types has led us to create a retail consultancy offering a flexible approach to suit any needs and budgets.

We work with retail businesses and brands at different stages of growth - from fast-growing challengers to established retailers, suppliers and investor-backed companies - to strengthen product and buying functions and drive commercial performance.

Using our insider knowledge, we support retail businesses to craft winning product strategies and secure listings, while helping retailers access the right products and build high-performing teams.

What do we do?

Drawing on decades of senior buying experience, we provide practical consultancy, coaching and training that helps businesses grow, scale and navigate change with confidence.

We have set the strategic direction for multiple departments and managed large teams with responsibility for over £100mil+ in sales - across 35+ product categories, from homeware and gifting, to garden centres and fashion accessories.

Our work spans product strategy, buying capability, supplier partnerships and team development - offering flexible, hands-on support tailored to each business’s stage, challenges and ambitions.

Our key skills are in product development, pricing, promotions, brand positioning, building commercial ranges, identifying trends, optimising a supply base, project management, leadership skills and driving sales and profit.

Why work with us?

FOCUSED

We’ll help you focus your time and resources in the most effective ways to ensure the best results for your business.

We help you focus on the channels, products, and partners that actually move the needle.

We develop product and process in parallel, so execution matches ambition.

COLLABORATIVE

We pride ourselves on delivering bespoke, targeted and effective projects based on our detailed understanding of your unique requirements

We work with your internal teams to ensure that all learnings, strategies and processes are deeply embedded into the DNA of your organisation.

CURRENT

Let us guide you in aligning your offer to real market needs and buyer priorities. We help you break into new spaces with confidence.

We keep our ear to the ground with all trade press and are up to date with the market.

We shape creative concepts to meet the standards and strategies of real-world retail

Meet The Founders

Katy Norton

Co-founder

Katy is a strategic commercial leader with over sixteen years’ experience delivering results in fast-paced, design-led retail businesses.

As Head of Buying at Hobbycraft, and previously at Moonpig and Monsoon Accessorize, she has led teams through periods of growth, transformation and operational complexity, always with a strong focus on customer value and commercial performance.

Her expertise lies in shaping consumer-led product strategies, leading data-driven decision-making and embedding cross-functional ways of working across buying, merchandising, marketing, e-commerce and supply chain.

Katy has managed multi-million-pound categories, driven margin improvement through sourcing and supplier strategy, and played a key role in stabilising and rebuilding teams and processes during times of significant change.

As a leader, Katy is known for her collaborative, people-first approach - developing talent, strengthening leadership capability and creating high-performing teams.

Through Buying and Beyond, she works with retailers and brands to unlock growth, professionalise buying functions and support leaders navigating scale, change and ambition.

Lynsey Abbott

Co-founder

As a senior buying leader, Lynsey has played a central role in shaping buying strategy, product development and sourcing across complex, multi-category retail environments.

With over sixteen years’ experience, including as Head of Home and Seasonal at Dobbies Garden Centres, she brings deep expertise in building commercial ranges, delivering strong customer propositions and driving sales performance at scale.

Her experience spans home décor, seasonal, gifting, outdoor living and jewellery, with responsibility for budgets in excess of £50m.

Lynsey is highly skilled in developing and nurturing supplier partnerships, leading global sourcing strategies across the Far East and Europe, and embedding robust product and sign-off processes to support innovation, margin and speed to market.

As a leader, Lynsey has managed and developed high-performing buying teams, presenting range and category strategies to senior leadership, CEOs and shareholders.

Through her consultancy work, she now supports retailers and brands to strengthen buying capability, sharpen product strategy and scale with confidence - combining hands-on commercial insight with practical, real-world experience.

I worked with Lynsey for over 6 years at Dobbies and she is truly one of the standout people I’ve collaborated with throughout my career. She brings a rare blend of creativity, commerciality, and cross-functional excellence to every project.Her passion for all things product is infectious—she consistently elevates ideas, pushes thinking in the right way, and finds solutions that balance customer needs with business goals. On top of all of that, she’s simply fun to work with. Her energy, positivity, and sense of humor make even the most demanding projects enjoyable.

Kirsty Stevenson, Head of Brand

Interested?

Send us a message and we will set up a free 15-minute consultation to discuss how we can help!