Holly Tucker

Considered by many as the foremost champion of the UK small business sector, Holly Tucker is a highly successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and podcast host. After spending years gaining experience in the business sector and insight into the early UK start-up scene, Tucker would go on to launch her first business enterprise Your Local Fair, an early attempt at bringing together local, curated small businesses into a supportive and collaborative environment.

Though this enterprise involved a small budget and a lot of unpaid hours for Tucker, it made one thing very clear: there was a big gap in the UK small business landscape just waiting to be filled by the right kind of person. Thus, notonthehighstreet.com was born. Drawing on the same inspiration which brought about Your Local Fair, Tucker’s passion for championing small businesses, coupled with her keen insight into the industry, meant that notonthehighstreet.com would soon grow into a widely used and award-winning marketplace and platform for over 5,000 creative businesses. With a staff numbering over 200 people, notonthehighstreet.com has become entrenched in the legacy of small business development in the UK.

Tucker was awarded an MBE for services to small businesses and enterprise in 2013, as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In 2015 she was named a UK Ambassador to Creative Small Businesses by the Prime Minister. Shortly after this, Tucker launched Instadvice, a blog which worked with creatives to help them realise their potential, and in 2017 she launched Holly & Co, a supportive hub for creative businesses which draws from her unique industry experience. Tucker also hosts her own podcast, Conversations of Inspiration, on which she regularly sits down with successful entrepreneurs to delve into the stories of their businesses