If ever there was anyone born to champion the UK’s creative small businesses (and women), it’s Holly Tucker MBE. It’s no surprise she’s made it her life’s work. As founder of notonthehighstreet and Holly & Co, the past two decades have given her the most unique, bird’s eye view of the dreams, resilience and remarkable talent of the UK’s independents. This is her story (and what a story it is)...
When you reach your 40s as a woman, you’ve most likely learned how to keep the radiators and ditch the drains, and always strive to make friends not contacts. Holly surrounds herself with a community of people who share her values, and are committed to changing the world for the better. In turn, she has committed to dedicating her life to this cause until she is 90 — and intends to have as much fun as possible along the way (often with Carrie and Gabi).
Of course, none of this would be possible without the support of husband Frank and beloved son, Harry (and Mr. Mudley and Chewy, Holly’s dogs). It means a lot that Harry’s grown up seeing his mum running her own businesses and she often opens up about the challenges of this (and life hacks learned) — along with all her favourite new small business product finds (warning: you’ll want them all) — in her weekly emails.
Growing up in Holland, one of Holly’s earliest memories was when her mother carefully stitched her name onto her bedspread. Who could have imagined the role that creative personalisation and thoughtful gifting would play in Holly’s future? These little acts of love stayed with her and she still wants to give that feeling to as many people as possible — to pour thought and imagination into every occasion, with items handmade by unique businesses like Holly’s mum’s…
Holly loved the idea of starting her own business but what could she launch? Her first venture was an independent travel company, using the free guides from the travel agents. Soon after, she started her own cleaning company for pocket money, then a nail salon (manicure by a 10 year old anyone?). Exhilarated by being in control, her entrepreneurial flame was lit. ‘Hurricane Holly’ (as her family called her) was off.
In between a Saturday pub cleaning job, some silver service waitressing and plenty of babysitting, Holly had a challenging few years at school. Despite loving learning, having dyslexia meant she was often frustrated and academia didn’t come naturally. Yet Holly worked hard to succeed, and even became Head Girl. It was then that she had the honour of first meeting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to show her around the school.
On the day of Holly’s A level results, Holly had arranged an interview at the advertising agency, Publicis — and got the job. It was here she learnt the meaning of hard work, the way corporate environments operate and the power of internships. It’s also why Holly is a strong believer in entrepreneurship. As the UK Ambassador for Small Businesses, it’s slightly ironic that she got an E in Business Studies…
So what does the colourful vegetable wreath above have to do with Holly’s history? Well Holly worked at Publicis, but after being diagnosed with a non-malignant brain tumour and going through a divorce at just 25, she started making them to get back to creativity, and help her heal. But where to sell them? After realising her town didn’t have a local fair (and Holly being Holly!), she set one up.
Alongside her tiger mascot, Holly trudged the high street leafleting for hours to encourage people to come along to the Chiswick Christmas Fair. She also managed to convince 150 local independents to sell with her. It was a success. She sold out her wreaths, but better still, she saw what happened when you connect bright shoppers with talented small businesses. So she launched Your Local Fair a year later.
By now, Holly had quit her job and put on events all over London and the home counties, hand selecting the best creative small businesses and celebrating their talent. She met her life partner Frank, became pregnant with Harry and had a spectacular idea. Would her old ad agency boss Sophie Cornish join her to connect these independents with the nation via ‘The Internet’? Sophie said yes and around their kitchen table, they got to work.
Founding notonthehighstreet wasn’t easy. It was still only the third marketplace in the world after eBay and Amazon, and Amazon only sold books. With a very young baby Harry strapped to her chest, Holly worked around the clock with Sophie to make it a success. When they launched, people were scared to put their card details in, and they hadn’t quite worked out the one basket checkout but never-the-less it happened — and soon, the business grew.
Notonthehighstreet became the backbone to more than 5,000 small businesses and in turn, has generated more than £1 billion. It’s helped thousands of people to turn their dreams into reality, control their own destiny, live creatively and build, what Holly calls, a ‘Good Life’ for their families. It’s not just the money, but the purpose it inspired — which is why she’s been dedicated to small businesses ever since.
Holly’s first real ‘pinch me’ moment came when she was awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to small business, as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours List. She was later invited by the Prime Minister to become UK Ambassador to Creative Small Businesses in November 2015, and has served ever since. She learned tremendous lessons along the way, but with the highs comes lows…
Leaving notonthehighstreet was far from easy. Holly had poured her heart and soul into it, it was her second baby and she was quite suddenly left utterly rudderless (but that’s a story for another time). Having worked with her for many years there, her sister Carrie and honorary sister Gabi stayed by her side throughout. They slowly but surely helped her rise from the ashes, until one day, Holly had another idea…
What if they could use Instagram to empower small businesses with the advice and inspiration they needed to flourish? With so many founders struggling, could she and her sisters put their decades of experience to good use to support them? How could they make the path easier for others? They launched Instadvice; a business advice blog for small businesses, which led to Holly & Co, a curated advice and inspiration platform. We’d arrived. And if you want to know the rest of our timeline?
You can read more about Holly & Co and what we're like today, but after founding the business with her sisters, Holly is finally able to live out her dream: to inspire women to be the fullest version of themselves through the way they live, work and shop. To live their best lives, less ordinary lives, good lives. By her own admission, she has never been happier. Together they have championed and supported thousands of small businesses and female founders — and the best is yet to come.
