In a recent interview with UKTN’s “Founder in Five” series, Polytag’s co-founder and CEO, Alice Rackley, shared deep insights into the journey of building a tech company focused on circularity. The conversation highlights how her unique career path and a commitment to industry community-building have been instrumental to Polytag’s growth.
Prioritise Community and Connection Rackley’s primary advice for first-time founders is to “invest your time in the community.” Rather than operating in a vacuum, she emphasises the importance of engaging with sector leaders and seeking out diverse perspectives. For Polytag, this isn’t just a philosophy—it’s a foundation. Rackley notes that many of the leaders she met early in her career, across organisations like Waitrose, M&S, and GS1, have become the company’s biggest champions and sponsors today.
A Career Rooted in Retail and Standards The interview reveals how Rackley’s professional history directly fuels Polytag’s mission. Having started on the shop floor at Waitrose and eventually growing M&S’s presence in India, she possesses an intimate understanding of the retail supply chain. Her experience at GS1, the global authority on barcodes and standards, provided the technical and industrial context necessary to develop Polytag’s digital tracking and data solutions for packaging.
A Culture of Disruption Beyond business strategy, Rackley touches on her personal inspirations, citing the rebellious nature of 1970s music as a source of her disruptive mindset. This attitude is central to Polytag’s goal: challenging the status quo of the packaging industry to create a more sustainable, circular economy.
By blending deep industry expertise with a focus on collaborative growth, Rackley’s interview underscores that Polytag’s success is built on a “community-first” approach, proving that the best way to innovate is to listen to, and lead within, the ecosystem you aim to change.