Holly Tucker kicks off her Summer of Small Business Love in Stokey

Holly Tucker and Kate Revere

Small business champion and founder of Not on the High Street, Holly Tucker MBE paid a visit to Stoke Newington this month.

Kicking off her Summer of Small Business Love on Church St, Holly described Stoke Newington’s independent shopping scene as “phenomenal” and she said it was an “epic first stop.”

She added: "I knew Stoke Newington was filled with brilliant independents, but what I couldn't quite get over was the huge sense of community and energy behind these independents when I visited. I think it is the collective action and drive, the creativity and colour that really puts Stoke Newington as a shining light of what can happen when brilliant founders come together.'

In a live video from Revere the Residence, Holly, who has around 130,000 followers on Instagram, said: “You’ve all got to come over to this shop – it’s doing good and someone has got remarkable taste! It’s amazing in here.”

After picking up some treasures, Holly later visited Know & Love and Rude Studios on Nevill Road.

Kate Revere

Speaking after the visit, Kate Revere, of Revere the Residence, said: “Holly is the government’s UK Ambassador for Creative Small Businesses – you don’t get better than that. To be seen by her and for her to absolutely love what we’re doing is really wonderful.

“I know that we are good in Stokey, but we need other people to know that there are so many independents and what you can get here is different to anywhere else in London. She really recognised our uniqueness and our level of energy.

“We told her all about our See you in Stokey campaign to get people to the area. I think that surprised and excited her the most. And we talked about our Invisible People trail which is happening in July.”

Piper and Kate

Revere the Residence is a social enterprise, providing work experience and/or employment to people with disabilities or their parents to try to level the field. Kate’s daughter Piper is autistic, profoundly deaf and super creative.

Rude Studios have worked with Holly before - they created the poster for her Shop Independent campaign for Colour Friday last year. Rude also created the distinctive See you in Stokey logo for Stoke Newington Business Association.

This Saturday (June 25) Holly & Co are holding Shop Independent Day – a timely reminder six months before Christmas that shopping small isn’t just for the festive season.