The Baronesses

A natural entrepreneur, Rachel Watkyn is Managing Director of The Tiny Box Company which started in her bedroom in 2007 as a solution to the lack of sustainable and ethically sourced packaging available to small businesses. Tiny Box is now the UK’s largest online gift packaging e-commerce company with 100 staff, over 700 products and 100,000 customers, ranging from one-person start-ups to international corporations.

Spending her formative years in care after a traumatic early childhood, Rachel was dragged from pillar to post, learning how to adapt quickly in difficult situations and fast-changing environments. Whilst working in Sierra Leone during the military coup, the extreme poverty she witnessed drove her vision for Fairtrade business. This began as a jewellery company, The Tiny Difference Company, founded on the idea that we may not be able to change the world, but we can all make our own, tiny difference in it.

The resilience she developed during her childhood prepared Rachel for business and helped her overcome difficulties including multiple bouts of cancer, fire, flooding, an IT hack, and Covid-19. Winning investment from two Dragons on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den, Rachel has since gone on to become the show’s most successful female entrepreneur to date and regularly comments on women’s entrepreneurship, women’s leadership, green business practices and sustainability.

She has been featured on BBC radio, The Daily Mail, The Times Newspaper, as well as multiple business and trade magazines. She is the winner of the 2020 NatWest Everywoman Award and the 2020 Rural Business Award. Most recently, Rachel Watkyn has been awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 Honours list for her outstanding contributions to Sustainability, Ethical Business Growth, and Exports. This prestigious accolade is a testament to Rachel’s commitment to sustainable practices within the packaging industry. Her visionary leadership and innovative approach have not only propelled Tiny Box Company to new heights but has also set a new global benchmark for ethical business operations.