Looking Up

Business lessons and insights from Tom Pell and Jeanette Wong, founders of The Clean Kilo, the largest zero-waste supermarket in the UK, and Katie Fisher, owner of the Birmingham-based independent, organic skincare brand Harvest.

Kristina Currie from modern kids store Bon Tot shares how her business has fared during the pandemic, plus her philosophy on digging in and getting stuff done, Stevie Kirkwood from independent shop Century General Store explains the three big things he’s learned during lockdown, and Susan Doherty from Scandinavian lifestyle store Lifestory talks about keeping customers engaged during lockdown.

Michael Jenkins and Dr Mena Fombo are the founders of Blak Wave, the only black-owned TV production company in Bristol – they share what it’s like shooting, producing and growing the business during lockdown. Plus, the co-founder of KASK wine bar talks pivoting, avoiding bad advice and lessons learned.

Before Covid-19, Georgina Burrows was an events producer, but when events got cancelled, she started picking up organic eggs from a local farm and delivering them to people she knew. She explains how it soon took on a life of its own and became a business. Plus: Seb Royle and Emilie Lashmar from Brighton-based coworking brand Platf9rm share how the company has adapted and survived recent months.

Len Hamilton shares lessons learned from launching his shop Northernlights Home only weeks before lockdown – and explains why Manchester is such a hub for creatives. Plus, Harry Williams from Form Lifestyle Store in Manchester’s Northern Quarter talks about how they’ve pivoted to e-commerce as a lifeline.

London-based writer and chef Zoe Adjonyoh shares how she pivoted her food business Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen into a community kitchen and online shop, and the founders of new hand sanitiser brand Hande talk about using skills learned at their day jobs at a knitwear company and creative studio to work on a company with a social purpose.

Welcome to Looking Up, a new show from Courier in partnership with Instagram. Across 6 episodes in 6 cities, we're talking with small business owners about the ways they're keeping their businesses afloat – and sometimes even growing – during the pandemic. Listen here for a taster on what to expect.