After leaving university, Kevin Hollinrake started working for Prudential. Then he co-founded Hunters estate agency in York in 1992. The agency had grown to over 150 branches across the country by 2015, with Hollinrake holding a 15% stake in the company. Hunters Property was admitted to trading on AIM in July 2015 with a market capitalisation of £16.9m. In February 2015, the company issued an IPO for new investors to raise £2.5 m for capital investment. In 2009 Hollinrake became a director of Vizzihome from which he resigned as a director in 2013. In 2013 he founded Shoptility Limited where he was the Chairman until commencement of voluntary winding up in October 2017, and the company was dissolved in June 2019. Hollinrake has been a consistent advocate for the small business sector, which he believes deserve a cut in the rate of VAT. He has strongly supported a scheme to widen the A64.
MP since general election, 2015
On arrival in the House of Commons, Hollinrake had already turned down the option to fight four other constituencies before settling on the Conservative safe seat of Thirsk and Malton in the county of North Yorkshire. Hollinrake is a strong supporter of David Cameron's Northern Powerhouse idea, which aims to link the north of England more closely to markets in the south; making it easier to travel, exchange and do business. In January 2016, Hollinrake was one of 72 MPs who voted down an amendment in Parliament on rental homes being "fit for human habitation" who were themselves landlords who derived an income from a property. He served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Hollinrake was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum. Like the majority of Remain MPs he has voted in favour of adhering to the result of the EU referendum and states that he now supports Brexit, although recently he has voiced opposition to Boris Johnson's policy to complete it "do or die" by ignoring Parliamentary bills designed to keep the UK in the EU. In 2020 Hollinrake became one of four Vice-Chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Whistleblowing. This group has been subject to criticism by some campaigners on whistleblowing law reform.
Fracking
Hollinrake is one of the few MPs representing a constituency where fracking may take place who enthusiastically supports it. On 2 February 2018, he authored an article in The Yorkshire Post titled: "Why I'm supporting fracking in Yorkshire", in which he argued fracking was too good an opportunity to miss and would help tackle climate change. Critics have argued that shale gas is a fossil fuel and extracting it will make climate change worse, but Hollinrake has argued it provides part of the transition to a low carbon energy mix. In May 2015, Hollinrake said that he would be writing to Amber Rudd, the Secretary of State for Energy, to declare support for "safe and discreet" fracking, as long as sufficient compensation was received locally. In January 2016, Hollinrake stood down as Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas after he received complaints from his constituents about funding received from fracking companies. In his resignation statement he said: "A number of constituents have contacted me to express concerns that my involvement with the is inappropriate, due to the amount of sponsorship it receives from the oil and gas industry."
Personal life
Hollinrake is married to Nikky and has four children, living primarily in London, but with a house in Yorkshire. His four children attended schools in Crayke and Easingwold his claims for rented accommodation in London include uplift for children leading to a total claim for rented accommodation of £27,646.63 for 2016–2017.
