Social media influencer chooses Old Town of Hull for next career move

A star of social media has moved into one of Hull’s oldest buildings dating back nearly 300 years with a business which is making a global impact in one of the newest and fastest moving sectors.

Poppy Mead, a social media influencer with more than 750,000 followers on TikTok, has set up her new studio at Danish Buildings and Bayles House in High Street, Hull. Born in Huddersfield, Poppy also has around 290,000 followers on Instagram and 80,000 on You Tube.

Only recently turned 20, she sees the move to the Old Town of Hull as the ideal inspiration as she works with boyfriend Kris Taylor to expand their activities into podcasts, clothing and property.

Poppy said: “Before we moved in here I worked from home but it was too easy to put Netflix on and not get any work done. Here I am in a much better environment. I love the Old Town area and this place helps us get out of the house and separate work from home. It also gives us the space we need to do the podcast.”

Georgia Allenby, Design and Marketing Manager at Allenby Commercial, said: “Since we bought Danish Buildings and Bayles House in 2017 we’ve welcomed all sorts of high-tech, on-trend businesses but podcasting is a first for us!”

Poppy made her big social media breakthrough when she was just 17 after being furloughed from her job as a waitress in a restaurant.

One of Poppy’s TikTok contacts introduced her to a manager whose job is to bring in the big brands for Poppy to promote. Among her clients are Pretty Little Thing, Missguided, Asos, Spotify, L’Oreal and Maybelline.

The earnings enabled Poppy to move out of the family home which she shared with her mum, dad, four siblings and two cats and get her own apartment in the centre of Leeds. With the second lockdown looming she moved in with Kris and his family in Hull, and now the couple and their dog Pippa have their own apartment in a leafy West Hull village.

Poppy said: “I’d been at college studying textiles, photography and drama. I got accepted at three universities and turned them down to do this. My manager got me five jobs in the first week but my mum had to do my contract because I was under 18!|

With the majority of Poppy’s followers aged 18 to 25 she’s aware of the need to keep pace with changing trends and develop new business interests.

She said: “We are starting a clothing brand together and a podcast and we are also investing in property people are always going to buy clothes and a house. At first I never realised I could turn this into a living. I knew from other people you could earn money from it but I had no idea this was their only job until my manager told me about the potential. It just happened by accident!”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily