Not on the High Street: Acquisition, Owner & History Explained

Not on the High Street grew from a 2006 startup into one of the UK’s most recognisable gift marketplaces — and its ownership story remains a puzzle. The platform, co-founded by Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish, now connects shoppers with over 5,000 small creative businesses, yet the current owner is publicly unconfirmed despite years of reports.

Marketplace for: over 5,000 small UK businesses · Current owner: unconfirmed · Co-founder: Holly Tucker · Headquarters: United Kingdom · Products focus: gifts, jewellery, homeware

The table below consolidates the core facts about Not on the High Street, drawing from publicly available sources including Wikipedia and the company’s own communications.

What happened to Not on the High Street?

Not on the High Street started as an ambitious idea from two women with no tech or retail background and grew into one of the UK’s best-known gift marketplaces. The platform hand-selects small creative businesses and connects them with shoppers looking for something different from the high street chains.

According to reporting from City AM, Holly Tucker described building the platform as creating “the third online marketplace in the world, after Amazon and eBay,” with Etsy launching three months later. That positioning placed NOTHS among the early pioneers of curated e-commerce.

In 2015, Holly Tucker left the business she co-founded. She described feeling “lost” after departing, according to City AM. That same year, then-Prime Minister David Cameron appointed her as UK Ambassador for Small Creative Businesses — a role that formalised her advocacy for independent makers.

Some sources have reported that the company was subsequently acquired by EEP, a Munich-based private equity firm. However, public records searches show no confirmed documentation of this acquisition, and neither company has issued a formal statement verifying ownership transfer. The current ownership of Not on the High Street remains unverified in available public records.

The implication: without official filings or announcements, any claim about current ownership rests on unverified reports rather than documented evidence.

The founding story

Holly Tucker was working in advertising at Publicis London when she began organising local fairs, including the Chiswick Christmas Fair, according to Wikipedia. Frustrated by the gap between artisan products she loved and what high street shops offered, she teamed up with Sophie Cornish to launch notonthehighstreet.com in 2006. At the time, Tucker was 28 years old and had a three-month-old baby, per 1st Formations.

She later described having no prior experience in tech or retail — yet somehow, with her business partner, she ended up building a marketplace that now hosts thousands of small UK businesses. Tucker told City AM: “I had no experience in tech or in retail for that matter, yet with my business partner Sophie, we ended up building the third online marketplace in the world, after Amazon and Ebay.”

Who is the owner of Not on the High Street?

This is where the record gets murky. The content plan references EEP, a Munich-based private equity firm, as the current owner — but this claim doesn’t appear in verified public sources. Searches of available documentation show no confirmed acquisition by EEP or any other party.

What we know for certain: Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish founded the company in 2006. Tucker departed around 2015. Beyond those facts, the ownership chain between her exit and today is not documented in public records that search results can confirm.

The company website continues to operate, listing products from over 5,000 small businesses across gifts, homeware, and jewellery categories, according to 1st Formations. The brand maintains an active Instagram presence with hundreds of thousands of followers. But without official filings or announcements, any claim about current ownership rests on unverified reports.

This gap matters for anyone researching the company’s governance, financial health, or future direction — those details simply aren’t publicly available through the sources we’ve checked.

Who owned Not on the High Street?

Holly Tucker is the most visible name in NOTHS history. Born 29 March 1977, she built the platform alongside Sophie Cornish, with both women sharing the co-founder title. Tucker served as CEO during the company’s rapid growth phase.

Her exit around 2015 marked the end of her direct involvement. Tucker later founded Holly & Co in 2017 as an advice platform and marketplace supporting independent businesses, according to Wikipedia. By 2022, Holly & Co achieved B Corporation certification — a credential for businesses meeting high social and environmental standards.

Co-founder Sophie Cornish’s trajectory after NOTHS is less documented in public sources. The company’s original founding story — born from a passion for unique gifts rather than a structured business plan, per 1st Formations — set the tone for a brand that positioned itself as anti-chain from the start.

Holly Tucker’s post-NOTHS ventures

After leaving NOTHS, Tucker briefly ran a venture called Square Mile and Me before launching Holly & Co in 2017, according to City AM. The latter platform includes “shop by values” badges developed with The Other Box consultancy — flags for Female Founded, B Corp Certified, and Made in the UK, per Wikipedia.

Tucker also serves as an author, podcast host, and television presenter, and she was awarded an MBE for her work supporting small businesses. Her focus has clearly shifted toward advocacy and education rather than marketplace operations.

What is Not on The High Street’s business model?

NOTHS operates as a curated online marketplace. Rather than allowing any seller to list products, an in-house team of curators hand-selects small UK businesses to join the platform, according to 1st Formations. This model differentiates the site from general marketplaces like eBay or Amazon, where anyone can sell.

The focus is on distinctive, often handmade or small-batch products — gifts, homeware, jewellery, and similar categories where uniqueness matters more than mass availability. The brand’s own description, as noted on their site, positions the marketplace as a destination for “thousands of unique finds” from “the UK’s best small businesses.”

The company has an app available through the Apple Store, and maintains active social media presence, particularly on Instagram where it has built a substantial following. Customer reviews on platforms like Trustpilot provide additional social proof, though detailed financial performance data isn’t publicly disclosed.

Market position and competition

At launch in 2006, NOTHS positioned itself as the third global online marketplace after Amazon and eBay, per City AM. Etsy launched three months after NOTHS but quickly became better known globally. Today, NOTHS competes in a different space — focused specifically on the UK market and on curation rather than volume.

The platform’s SERP analysis shows it ranks primarily for brand-related searches and customer reviews, with relatively shallow content about company history or acquisition details. This gap is exactly what this article aims to address.

What does “not on the high street” mean?

The name is a direct reference to the British concept of the “high street” — the traditional row of shops running through any town or suburb, historically the commercial heart of a community. When Brits say “the high street,” they’re referring to mainstream retail: banks, chain stores, supermarkets, familiar brands.

“Not on the High Street” signals the opposite: products you won’t find in those chains. The brand name is essentially a promise that what you’re buying comes from independent makers rather than mass-market producers. It’s both a description and a positioning statement.

The term “High Street” itself has roots going back centuries in English urban planning, referring to the main commercial road in medieval market towns. Today it carries connotations of accessibility, tradition, and often, conformity — which makes “Not on the High Street” an deliberately countercultural brand name.

Why this matters for small businesses

The brand name frames small independent businesses as alternatives to corporate retail. For the 5,000+ sellers on NOTHS, being listed on the platform means access to customers specifically seeking something different — people willing to pay a premium for uniqueness over convenience.

This positioning has been central to NOTHS’s marketing and to Holly Tucker’s advocacy work. The name doesn’t just describe the products; it describes a philosophy about shopping values and supporting local makers.

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