Our journey
to smarter
support
HOLP was founded by Paul Wright (Wag) and Liam Mclaney, long-time collaborators with years of experience building digital platforms, websites, and customer solutions.
Between them, they’ve spent nearly two decades designing and developing user-friendly products for startups, global brands, and healthcare organisations. HOLP evolved from a shared vision: to make AI-powered support simple, accessible, and genuinely helpful wherever it’s needed.
Paul Wright (Wag)
Co-founder, Head of Design & Product
With over 20 years of experience as a UI/UX designer and agency founder, Wag has delivered more than 200 digital projects for national and global brands including NHS, Pernod Ricard, National Parks, and Eureka! The National Children’s Museum.
His passion is building user-friendly, high-converting digital experiences. Today, he leads HOLP’s product and design, making sure the platform is intuitive and effective for SMEs who want enterprise-quality support without enterprise complexity.
Alongside HOLP, Wag also works as a freelance UX/UI designer and website consultant, helping SMEs and startups improve their websites through design, usability audits, and platforms like Squarespace and WordPress.
Liam Mclaney
Co-founder, Head of Development
With more than 15 years’ experience as a senior developer and technical lead, Liam has built bespoke websites and applications for organisations including Nintendo, NHS, Pernod Ricard, Stay in a Pub, and Eureka! The National Children’s Museum.
He specialises in custom WordPress development, API integrations, and large-scale digital platforms. Liam previously founded Branch, a specialist web development team, and led the creation of Tidze, a live-streaming and ticketing platform backed by InnovateUK.
At HOLP, Liam drives development and integrations, ensuring the platform is robust, scalable, and secure, meeting the standards of both SMEs and enterprise clients.
“Within minutes of sitting down, it felt like the old days. We were bouncing ideas around, sketching on scraps of paper, solving problems.”
“I was on my own. I thought about changing direction completely, but in the end I went back to what I love most… design”
Our Story
Told by Wag:
Back in 2003, I started Rubber Cheese with my business partner. At the time, it was mainly a graphic design business, logos, branding, magazines, that sort of thing. I’d already spent a few years designing website templates and logos for an ecommerce platform, but in those early days most clients wanted print. The dot-com bubble had burst, people were nervous about the web, but you could see the smart ones were starting to lean in.
Then came the iPhone in 2007, and everything changed. Mobile browsing took off, app design was the buzz, and by 2010 responsive web design was everywhere. Flash was out, and we were getting more and more requests to design and build proper websites. Trouble was, neither me nor my co-founder were coders. We used freelancers for development, which worked for a while, but by 2015 we were so busy that we couldn’t rely on freelancers anymore.
“Then came the iPhone in 2007, and everything changed.”
Meeting Liam
So, we took the plunge and advertised for a web developer role. That’s when a 6ft 3 bloke from Lancashire called Liam walked into our office. He was shy, but we instantly liked him. We shared the same values, and we could tell straight away he was a good guy. Hiring him was one of the best decisions we ever made.
Over the next six years, me and Liam worked side by side on some incredible projects; booking systems for global drinks brands, medical course platforms used by thousands of professionals, ticketing and membership systems for museums, and more. We had a brilliant team, the work was exciting, and it felt like we were really making an impact.
“That’s when a 6ft 3 bloke from Lancashire called Liam walked into our office”
When Covid Changed Everything
Then Covid hit, and suddenly everyone was working remotely. The spirit of the agency just wasn’t the same. Liam wanted to be closer to his family up north. So he moved back home and carried on working with us remotely. We talked about opening a Chorley office that he could run. It didn’t work out, and eventually Liam left Rubber Cheese. It was a sad day.
Liam was about to start a new role as Head of Digital, but the strains of Covid cancelled that before it even began. A friend suggested he apply for an InnovateUK grant and he won. That kicked off his first startup journey, building a live-streaming and ticketing platform for musicians who couldn’t perform live during lockdown. They raised private funding, helped over 100 musicians earn money online, even worked with Microsoft. But when restrictions lifted, the market for live-streaming fell off a cliff.
Meanwhile, Rubber Cheese kept going, but it never felt quite the same without Liam. Eventually, in 2021, me and my business partner sold the agency.
After 19 years, I was on my own. I thought about changing direction completely, but in the end I went back to what I love most… design.
The Spark of an Idea
By late 2022, something big happened: ChatGPT launched. Like so many others, I was blown away. I started using loads of AI tools. They were powerful, but honestly, most of them were awful to use. Clunky, over-complicated, no thought for user experience. I ranted on LinkedIn more than once that the tools which would really succeed would be the ones that take UX seriously.
I didn’t know exactly what to build, or how I’d build it, but I knew this was the future and I had to be part of it. I had a few rough ideas, but no clear plan.
“The AI tools that will succeed are the ones that take UX seriously.”
Back Together Again
Then, out of the blue, I got an email from Liam. He told me he’d shut down his agency nine months before and asked if I wanted to see a demo of an AI chatbot he’d built.
Of course, I said, “F@!k yeah.”
I loved it. Straight away, I could see the potential, and also where it could be improved, especially on the UX side. After talking it through for a while, Liam asked me if I wanted to partner up again.
And of course, I said, “F@!k yeah” … again.
A few weeks later we met up in person.
Three hours on the road. A farm café in Birmingham. And an idea that’s already changing everything for us.
Within minutes of sitting down, it felt like the old days. We were bouncing ideas around, sketching on scraps of paper, solving problems. Only this time, we weren’t building for a client, we were building for ourselves. I hadn’t felt that excited in a long time.
Since that café meeting, there have been long days, late nights, and a lot of tea consumed. But one thing has been clear from the start: our mission.
“We believe AI should simplify, not complicate. HOLP is built to give businesses and their customers instant, reliable support, anywhere it’s needed.”
That day in Birmingham was the spark. And that’s how HOLP began.
Wag, Co-Founder of HOLP