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Hobo Web has been built on the talent, trust, and loyalty of some truly incredible people. Its story is best told through the stories of those who helped build the agency from the ground up, transforming a bold idea into a thriving enterprise.
This serves as the definitive chronicle of those individuals, a testament to their contributions and the unique culture they forged together.
The heart of this story is a place: a Greenock office at The Stables on Patrick Street, affectionately nicknamed “Castle Hobo” by its founder. This was more than a workplace; it was a sanctuary of camaraderie, shared purpose, and creative energy, the physical and emotional centre of the company’s operational life.
The narrative of Hobo Web is deeply woven into the fabric of its hometown.
Many of the connections that would come to define the company were forged years, even decades, before its inception, in the shared neighbourhoods of Greenock like Larkfield and Kennilworth Crescent, in the classrooms of local schools, and through the tight-knit bonds of lifelong friendship. This article traces that tapestry of interconnected lives, showing how a company can be an extension of a community.
It is also a tale of two distinct but inextricably linked eras.
The first era, the one this report primarily celebrates, is that of the agency: HOBO-WEB LIMITED, a private limited company incorporated in 2006 and based in the bustling Greenock office, focused on web design, client services, and the remarkable team that delivered them.
The second era is that of the present-day Hobo Web: a globally recognised, product-led SEO consultancy, driven by its founder, Shaun Anderson, following the agency’s formal dissolution.
This evolution was not an ending but a strategic pivot.
The formal dissolution of the limited company in 2019 marked the conclusion of a specific business model, allowing the brand to transform into the more scalable, product-focused, and location-independent entity it is today.
The values, expertise, and reputation forged in Castle Hobo are the bedrock upon which the modern Hobo Web stands. To understand the company today, one must first understand the people who gave it its heart, its spirit, and its name.
| Date/Year | Milestone | Key Personnel Involved | Source/Significance |
| March 16, 2006 | Incorporation of HOBO-WEB LIMITED. | Shaun Anderson, Michael Bonnar | Marks the official, legal beginning of the agency. |
| Circa 2006 | The office at The Stables, 24 Patrick Street, Greenock is secured. | Michael Bonnar | “Castle Hobo” is established, providing a physical home for the company culture. |
| Circa 2006 | Rodger Patterson is hired as Employee #1. | Shaun Anderson, Rodger Patterson | The first official employee marked the beginning of team growth. |
| Circa 2006/2007 | Alan Muir is hired as Employee #2. | Shaun Anderson, Alan Muir, Bill Muir | The technical foundation of the agency is solidified with an award-winning collaborator. |
| c. 2006 – 2016 | Tenures of key team members. | Chris, Martin Gardner, Jack Osborne, Robert McKenzie, Jim Harkins, Margaret Anderson | The core team that defined the agency’s culture and output is assembled over this period. |
| Late 2012 | The passing of Tess, the original inspiration for the company. | Tess, Shaun Anderson | A significant emotional event and the loss of the company’s “co-founder.” |
| Circa 2016 | Jack Osborne departs for a role at Foursquare in New York. | Jack Osborne | A point of pride for the agency, validating its ability to nurture world-class talent. |
| November 25, 2016 | Resolution to wind up; registered office moved from Greenock. | N/A | The definitive end of the “Castle Hobo” era and the physical office. |
| December 30, 2019 | Final dissolution of HOBO-WEB LIMITED. | N/A | The formal conclusion of the agency as a legal entity paves the way for its next evolution. |
Part I: The Foundation Stones
The strength of any structure lies in its foundation. For Hobo Web, that foundation was not built of concrete and steel, but of trust, friendship, and complementary talents. The individuals in this section were there at the beginning, shaping the company’s leadership, its technical capabilities, and its core cultural values from day one.
1. The Founder & The Philosophy: Shaun Anderson
At the centre of the Hobo Web story is its founder, Shaun Anderson, the architect of its culture, its technical vision, and its enduring brand.
His journey is one of entrepreneurial spirit, technical evolution, and a deep-seated commitment to his Greenock roots.
Long before Hobo Web, Anderson’s career was forged within the dynamic environment of Adpartners, a Glasgow advertising agency he joined in 1999.
Initially hired for a creative role, he pragmatically shifted to become a DTP operator to secure his position, demonstrating an early adaptability.
This tenure culminated not in a traditional corporate ascent, but in a display of pure entrepreneurship.
After being made redundant in 2001, he successfully pitched the agency’s leadership on a new venture: he would freelance for them, building websites for their clients. This led to the creation of ‘adpartners.web’, a successful web development division that Anderson built and led from the ground up.
His work at Adpartners was distinguished by a focus on high-compliance, accessible websites for public sector clients, and it earned significant accolades.
The pinnacle of this era was the 2006 SFEMA Gold Award for “Top prize for best college website,” awarded for the North Glasgow College project, where Anderson was the Web Marketing Manager.
This award was a testament to the high-level technical and strategic work he was delivering.
In 2006, with a proven track record, Anderson left the agency world to realise his own vision. He approached his lifelong friend, Michael Bonnar, with an idea for a new kind of company, and together they incorporated HOBO-WEB LIMITED.
This wasn’t just a business decision; it was the creation of a company built on his own terms—a place where his dog Tess could be a daily companion, and where a culture of trust and specialized talent could thrive over corporate convention.
As the “Hobo” of Hobo Web, a moniker he became known by in the global SEO community, Anderson was the driving force behind the agency’s “white hat” ethical standards and its reputation for technical excellence.
This experience led him to a fundamental strategic dilemma.
Hobo’s core value was its expertise in SEO—a skill that, especially in the 2000s, was immensely powerful.
This expertise, however, was a double-edged sword. An individual with a similar entrepreneurial mindset could be taught the essentials of SEO and, once given access to Hobo’s profitable systems, could easily leave to become a direct competitor.
This was not a theoretical risk; it was a pattern the founder had observed when marketing personnel at client companies departed to establish rival agencies, sometimes even bidding against the Hobo brand name in paid search campaigns.
The solution to this conundrum was a counterintuitive but brilliant hiring philosophy – largely based on the advice Shaun was given when competing with the PSYBT and Shell Livewire in the late 90s. Instead of seeking another SEO expert – a move akin to cloning the founder, creating an unsustainable dynamic – something the founder learned during the Royal Bank of Scotland Marketing Challenge in 1998 – a different path was chosen.
The strategy was to build a team of disparate, yet complementary, specialists.
He would select individuals from the local community, not for their existing knowledge of SEO, but for their raw talent and clear passion in other domains: design, technical development, writing, and management.
The key was to invest in these individuals, training them and creating an environment where they could flourish within their chosen craft. This approach transformed a potential vulnerability into a profound strength. It fostered a culture built on deep-seated trust and allowed for the creation of a multi-talented team where each member was an expert in their own right, contributing a unique and vital piece to the agency’s success. The philosophy was simple: you can only have one person with the founder’s specific entrepreneurial drive in an agency; the team had to be built around that reality.
2. The Partnership: Michael Bonnar, The Trusted Leader
It is impossible to tell the story of Hobo without Michael Bonnar at its very centre.
His leadership as Managing Director was not a conventional corporate appointment but the formalisation of a lifelong bond, a partnership that defined the company from its inception. The friendship between Michael and the founder, Shaun Anderson, dates back to their childhood, when they were 10 or 11 years old.
They played football together, navigated their first ‘boys’ night out,’ and logged countless hours on video games like Kick Off and Sensible World of Soccer. This inseparable teenage friendship matured into an adult one so close that they live next to each other in Greenock’s West End to this day.
This deep, personal history was the critical ingredient in their professional success. When creating Hobo, the founder knew he did not want to be the day-to-day leader; he needed a partner he could trust implicitly to be the head of the company.
Michael, the dux of his school and an immensely competitive individual, was the perfect choice. His skillset was the entire antithesis of the founder’s, and it was this very difference that made their collaboration so effective. While one partner provided the creative and technical vision, Michael provided the steady, operational leadership required to build a sustainable business.
One of his first and most significant acts as Managing Director was securing the company’s office at The Stables on Patrick Street.
This was more than a real estate transaction; it was the creation of “Castle Hobo,” the bedrock of the company and the vessel for its unique culture. Michael’s hard work gave the fledgling agency its home and its fortress.
The absence of a public-facing professional profile for Michael Bonnar in the digital business world is telling. Unlike many executives in the tech industry, his influence and authority were not derived from a curated online presence or a list of industry credentials.
Instead, his leadership was rooted in a private network of trust, forged over decades of friendship. He was the internal anchor, the reliable counterpart who managed the business, freeing the founder to become the external-facing expert and innovator. This model of leadership, built on loyalty and personal history rather than a public resume, was a cornerstone of the Hobo Web agency’s distinct, family-and-friends culture.
3. The First Hire: Rodger Patterson, The Natural Designer
Hobo’s very first employee, Rodger Patterson, represents a core tenet of the company’s philosophy: recognising and nurturing local talent. The connection, like so many at Hobo, was deeply personal and rooted in the Greenock community. Rodger grew up in the same area of Kennilworth Crescent as the founder (now a demolished housing estate lost to history), living in the flat directly above him for years. The bond between their families was cemented when Rodger’s parents began looking after the founder’s beloved dog, Tess, becoming like adoptive parents to her.
It was during this time that the founder had the opportunity to see Rodger’s design portfolio and was immediately impressed by his natural flair. A year or so later, as Hobo Web was taking its first steps and needed its first employee, the founder knew he wanted someone he could train personally, an assistant to help with a wide range of tasks—”somebody to carry the water.” An all-rounder trainee. He thought of Rodger, who was then working at Tesco. He offered him the job, and Rodger accepted immediately, trading the supermarket aisles for the burgeoning world of web design.
For nearly a decade, Rodger was the heart of Hobo. He began as an assistant and, under the founder’s mentorship, grew into a multi-talented professional, excelling as a designer, a web developer, and a trusted client handler for many of the agency’s in-house design projects. His journey from a local prospect to a key team member embodies the agency’s commitment to investing in people. Ultimately, Rodger left Hobo after almost a decade to follow his primary passion, taking on a dedicated designer role at the outdoor clothing and equipment company, Trespass. This move was not seen as a loss, but as a success story—a testament to the skills and confidence he had cultivated during his tenure. He is remembered as a fantastic employee, an extremely personable and trustworthy man, and an indispensable part of the Hobo story.
4. The Technical Cornerstone: Alan Muir and The Adpartners Inheritance
Alan Muir was Hobo’s employee number two, but his role was foundational. For nearly two decades, he served as the founder’s indispensable right-hand man on all technical matters. Running Hobo without his expertise would have been, in the founder’s own words, “unthinkable.” Their shared history is a multi-generational story of mentorship and collaboration that forms a direct bridge between Hobo Web and its predecessor, the Glasgow advertising agency Adpartners.
The story begins with Alan’s father, the late and highly respected Bill Muir. Bill was the Chairman of Adpartners and a personal mentor who guided the founder in the creative advertising world. This relationship was pivotal. It was within this environment that the founder, Shaun Anderson, began his own career, eventually creating and leading adpartners.web, the agency’s web development division, from 1999 to 2006.5
After the founder’s departure to establish Hobo, Alan Muir himself took the helm of adpartners.web – the subdivision of Adpartners Shaun had set up in 2001.
Knowing Alan’s experience and creative eye were a perfect fit for his new venture, the founder approached Bill Muir to ask for his blessing to headhunt his son. Bill not only gave his blessing but his enthusiastic encouragement.
This transition was cemented by a powerful piece of shared history: the 2006 SFEMA Gold Award for “Top prize for best website,” awarded to Adpartners for their work on the North Glasgow College website. The official credits for this award-winning project list a small, focused team: Shaun Anderson as the Web Marketing Manager, and, crucially, Alan Muir as the “Website Developer”.5 This external, award-winning validation provides definitive proof of their successful, high-level technical collaboration long before Hobo was even formed.
Tragically, soon after Alan joined Hobo, Adpartners closed its doors, and Bill Muir passed away. The founder carries a professional regret of never having the chance to properly show his completed agency to the man who inspired so much of it. In a poignant twist, Bill did visit the Greenock office on one occasion and was reportedly impressed, but the founder was out of the office, presenting to a business group and missed him. This near-miss adds a layer of emotional depth to their shared story. Alan Muir is remembered as the epitome of the “Agency Man”—extremely personable, loyal, and reliable. His contribution to Hobo was immeasurable, and their shared legacy, forged at Adpartners and perfected at Hobo, is a cornerstone of the company’s history.
Shaun and Alan work on projects to this day.
5. The Client Champion: Chris Ballantyne, The Pillar of Reliability
The story of Chris’s time at Hobo Web is a testament to the power of long-term relationships and the supreme value the agency placed on unwavering dependability. His professional connection with the founder came full circle in a remarkable way. They first worked together at Tesco in the early 1990s, where it was Chris who (at 16 years old himself) trained a young 16-year-old Shaun Anderson when he was a new starter in Tesco. This early history of mentorship and collegiality laid the groundwork for a future partnership.
Years later, when Hobo Web had grown to the point where it needed a dedicated, client-facing manager, Chris was the obvious first choice. The recruitment process was characteristic of Hobo’s informal, relationship-driven approach. A chance meeting on a night out proved serendipitous; the founder asked him to apply for the job, and soon after, Chris left his long-term career at Tesco to join the Hobo team. This move mirrored a pattern within the company, where trusted individuals from outside the tech industry were brought into the fold based on character and potential to do specific roles within a team.
For over a decade, Chris was an invaluable client manager. While his loyalty and trustworthiness were second to none, it was his absolute reliability that set him apart. In all his years at Hobo, there was not a single instance of him failing to deliver when dealing with the agency’s clients. This perfect record of dependability made him a pillar of the company’s service reputation. Like the story of Michael Bonnar, the absence of a public digital footprint for Chris reinforces a key aspect of the agency’s culture. His value was not measured by online endorsements but by a decade of flawless performance and a friendship that spanned even longer. He was, and remains, a lifelong friend and a symbol of the steadfast reliability that was a hallmark of the Hobo brand.
Part II: The Engine Room and The Creative Spark
While the founders and early hires established the culture, it was a team of dedicated specialists who powered the agency’s day-to-day operations. These individuals were the engine room, driving the technical and creative output that served Hobo’s clients. Their stories are of growth, adaptability, and the pursuit of specialised craft, each adding a unique dimension to the company’s capabilities.
6. The Keeper of the Keys: Martin Gardner, The Technical Manager
Martin Gardner’s journey at Hobo Web is a powerful illustration of the founder’s knack for betting on people over credentials. When Martin, a fellow Greenock local, first applied for a website development manager position, his technical resume was not a perfect match. He was an expert in Microsoft.asp, while Hobo was a PHP-based agency.
A conventional hiring process might have ended there, but a CV only tells part of the story. The founder was highly impressed with Martin’s work ethic and, most notably, his entrepreneurial spirit—a trait he particularly admired in a young man who had navigated the challenges of growing up in a deprived area of their town.
Seeing immense potential, the founder asked a simple question: Would he be willing to learn PHP? Martin’s affirmative answer began a partnership that would last for nearly 15 years.
This decision proved to be transformative for the agency. Martin went on to become the founder’s “other hand,” the person who could be left in charge of the entire operation. He was entrusted with the “keys to the kingdom,” holding access to every system and becoming the company’s de facto technical manager.
His role was so central that the founder likened him to “Gilfoyle” from the TV show Silicon Valley—the indispensable technical genius. In a very real sense, Martin was a Hobo on a technical level.
This finding provides concrete, external validation of the spirit that the founder identified early on.
Together, Martin and the founder spent four years building the first version of the company’s proprietary reporting systems, a period of intense, shared learning. Despite his deeply technical role, Martin was also very personable and could communicate with any client with ease. After his long and vital tenure, he moved on to a new challenge at the outdoor equipment company Vango. With his love for drones, computers, and 3D printers, he was truly the “Iron Man of Hobo.” He was trusted with the founder’s life’s work, and he never once let him down, always having his back. He is remembered as a great, personable employee and an invaluable member of any team.
7. The CSS Specialist: Jack Osborne’s Path from Greenock to New York
Jack Osborne’s story at Hobo began with a display of the exact kind of bold initiative the founder has always admired. He walked right in off the street in Greenock and asked for a job. It was a move the founder saw as a reflection of his own youthful confidence, and he had a good feeling about Jack instantly. That instinct was immediately validated. The moment the founder saw Jack’s work, he knew he was going to hire him. Jack was a professional web developer whose art was in the digital space, a specialist in the nuanced field of technical design. His skills were seen as a fantastic addition that would perfectly complement the existing talents of Rodger Patterson and Alan Muir. As soon as the role was needed, Jack was hired.
In the office, Jack quickly became known as the “cool CSS designer.” He was not only technically proficient but was also remembered as an absolutely great guy, amazing fun to have around, and a truly great person who lifted the entire atmosphere of Castle Hobo. After working with the agency for almost a decade, Jack left for an incredible opportunity: a move to New York to work with the location technology giant Foursquare. This was a moment of immense pride for the founder and the entire Hobo team, a powerful validation of the world-class talent nurtured within their Greenock office.
This impressive career trajectory is extensively corroborated by Jack’s own professional presence online.7 He served as a Senior Design Manager, where he helped lead, mentor, and grow the design team. Before that, he spent six years working on Foursquare’s flagship consumer applications, City Guide and Swarm. He then moved to the company’s elite “0→1 team,” known as Labs, where he developed new software prototypes showcasing the power of location technology.7 His portfolio includes projects like “Hypertrending,” where his responsibilities spanned the full product design lifecycle, from planning and prototyping to UI/UX design and user testing.8 This detailed, public record provides a stunning confirmation of the “incredible opportunity” he seized, showcasing the immense talent that first walked through the door of The Stables years earlier. Jack remains an invaluable member of any creative team lucky enough to have him.
8. The Company Writer: Robert McKenzie’s Profound Transformation
The story of Robert McKenzie at Hobo Web is one of profound personal transformation and a source of exceptional pride for the company. Robert had faced a very challenging childhood, one of the most difficult of anyone on the team. He approached the founder directly and asked for help in getting a job. In a move characteristic of the agency’s community-focused ethos, Hobo worked with local employment groups to give Robert his first real start.
A writer by trade, Robert was dealing with the woes that can often plague a creative soul. Hobo provided him with more than a job; it offered him a chance to get his life together, and the change the team witnessed was remarkable. Over his tenure of nearly a decade, he transformed from an individual with few opportunities into a valued and integral member of Hobo’s creative output. The founder proudly states that, in many ways, Robert was “made in Hobo”.
This powerful narrative of opportunity and growth is directly and remarkably corroborated by articles in the local Greenock Telegraph newspaper.9 This aligns perfectly with the founder’s account of Robert leaving to pursue his true calling. Robert has always been a very personable and caring individual, so it came as no surprise to the team when he chose a path dedicated to caring for others. It was a move that made everyone at Hobo immensely proud. Further cementing his identity as a writer, a syllabus for the Greenock Writers’ group lists Robert McKenzie as a scheduled speaker on the topic of Film Noir.10 He went on to become a truly wonderful human being, and his story remains one of the company’s most cherished successes.
Part III: The Family and The Heartbeat
Some contributions to a company transcend job descriptions. The individuals in this section were more than employees; they were family. They provided the warmth, the history, and the very inspiration that made Hobo Web a unique and deeply human enterprise. Their presence defined the family atmosphere of the agency and gave it its soul.
9. The First Door: In Loving Memory of Jim Harkins
The story of Jim Harkins at Hobo Web is one that brings the founder’s entire professional journey full circle, connecting the very first step of his career with the mature, thriving agency he would later build. Jim was the founder’s late uncle, and it was he who, all the way back in 1989, believed in his nephew’s talent. He recommended him for a job with Crolla Ice Cream, a recommendation that led to the founder’s first-ever paid design work. Jim Harkins was the person who opened the very first door.
Years later, in a twist of fate that speaks to the deep community roots of the company, their story came full circle when Jim joined the Hobo family. Reinforcing these intertwined connections, Jim was also a resident of the same Kinnilworth Crescent block where both the founder and Hobo’s first employee, Rodger Patterson, had lived. He was part of their collective story long before the company existed and was there again when it was in full flight.
Jim joined Hobo in a part-time role, bringing a steadying, invaluable presence to the office at The Stables. Working under the leadership of the client and office manager, Chris Ballantyne, Jim acted as an office manager. His role was not technical but cultural and operational. He answered the phones, took messages, and, most importantly, made sure everyone was comfortable. He was a loyal and fundamental part of the team, remaining with the company right up until the Greenock office was shut down. His belief kick-started everything, and his later presence at Hobo brought that journey a profound sense of completeness. He is remembered with immense love and gratitude.
10. The Mother Hen: Margaret Anderson, The Welcoming Voice of Hobo
A business never feels more like a family than when your own mother is at the front desk, and for many years, the team at Hobo Web had that distinct pleasure. Margaret Anderson, the founder’s mother, became the warm, welcoming voice of the agency, embodying the personal touch that clients came to love. Following what became a familiar path for the Hobo team, she also left a job at Tesco to come and work with the company.
Margaret has always been a natural ‘gabber’—a gifted and engaging conversationalist—which made her the ideal person to be the company’s receptionist. Clients deeply appreciated the personal connection, often remarking on how much they enjoyed the fact that they were speaking with the founder’s mum when they called. For the founder, it was a perfect win-win situation. He was able to help his parents out financially while placing his mother in a position where her wonderful, outgoing personality could truly shine and become an asset to the business. Margaret was ironically the driving force behind Shaun Anderson, the founder, getting his first job at Tesco.
Within the office, she naturally assumed the role of the mother figure. She was the person who made sure everyone was comfortable, looked after, and cared for, solidifying the genuine family atmosphere of Castle Hobo. She remained a beloved and central part of the team until health issues unfortunately prompted her early retirement. The warmth and spirit she brought to Hobo were fundamental to its culture and are remembered with great affection.
11. The SEO Scholar: James McInally and the Fusion of Academia and Agency Life
The story of James McInally at Hobo Web is one of intellectual synergy, proving the immense value of combining academic discipline with the fast-paced world of a digital agency. James came to Hobo not as a fledgling talent, but as an established professional, bringing with him a wealth of experience from a remarkable twelve-year tenure at the University of the West of Scotland, where he managed all their digital and marketing activities. James is a long-time friend of Michael Bonnar and the founder.
As SEO Marketing Manager, James introduced a new layer of strategic depth to the team. While Hobo was built on passion and pioneering spirit, James grounded that energy in proven methodology and data-driven analysis.
The founder often remarked on his rare and genuine ability to connect high-level marketing theory with the technical nuts and bolts of search.
He brought a methodical rigour to client projects, building strategies that were not only creative but academically sound. He was the bridge between marketing science and practical results, and his expertise elevated the agency’s entire approach to search marketing.
It came as no surprise to the team when a professional with such a comprehensive skill set and entrepreneurial drive chose to found his own consultancy, XLWEB.
It was seen as a natural and admirable progression. He left Hobo not just with more experience, but having left an indelible mark on the company’s intellectual foundation. His legacy is the powerful lesson that the most resilient and successful digital strategies are forged at the crossroads of academic knowledge and hands-on industry expertise.
12. The Trainee: Connor Anderson
Some skills are learned in a classroom, but for the founder’s son, Connor Anderson, his education in the digital world was a much more personal affair. Growing up around the business, he was given a unique, firsthand look into the inner workings of how an agency runs.
Under his father’s guidance, Connor spent time at Hobo learning the trade directly from the source.
He was given a practical education in the fundamentals of web design, development, and the core strategies of online marketing and SEO. It was a special chapter in the company’s history—a classic story of the next generation learning the ropes, infused with the passion for the web that started it all.
13. The Inspiration: Tess (RIP), The Littlest Hobo
To find the true, fundamental reason for Hobo Web’s existence, one must look not to a business plan or a market opportunity, but to a wonderful mongrel named Tess.
She was the inspiration. The entire company was conceived from a simple, heartfelt desire: the founder wanted to build a company where he could take his dog to work every day. If Adpartners’ MD at the time, Mr C.Murchie, had let him, Hobo might not have been formed. This was not a passing whim but a core mission. He was so committed to the idea that he explicitly told his Managing Director at Adpartners that this was his plan when he left to set up on his own. And that is exactly what he did.
Tess was with the founder from the mid-nineties and was a daily presence in the Hobo office from its first day until she passed away in late 2012. She was far more than a pet; she was a co-founder and the company’s heart. Her quiet, friendly presence shaped the very culture of the agency. Because of her, Hobo was always a dog-friendly and, by extension, a people-friendly place. Her presence created an environment where everyone was encouraged to bring their own dogs to work, and for a long time, the office was home to both Tess and another great dog, Mattie (RIP), as full-time companions.
This welcoming spirit extended to the human families as well. Hobo staff were always welcome to bring their children in to visit and see where their fathers worked, fostering a genuine sense of community and work-life integration that was far ahead of its time. Tess was the living embodiment of the Hobo spirit: loyal, friendly, and the reason for it all. Her place at the heart of the company is so fundamental that she is immortalised in the original Hobo logo (unused). A dog is seen sitting patiently, looking eye to eye with the hobo figure—that’s her. She was, and will forever remain, a core part of the company’s identity and its founding story. Who knows, maybe she will make it onto the Hobo logo one day.
Epilogue: The Legacy of The Stables
Every story has its setting, and for the Hobo Web agency, that setting was as much a character as any person. The eventual closure of its physical doors marked the end of a chapter, but the legacy forged within those walls continues to define the brand today.
The History of “Castle Hobo”
The company’s operational heart was located at The Stables. This location in the historic heart of Greenock was more than just an office; it was “Castle Hobo.” A 2018 article in the Greenock Telegraph details the redevelopment of the iconic 132-year-old “Mansion House” on nearby Ardgowan Square, one of the most prestigious addresses in Inverclyde’s desirable west end. Hobo’s office was part of a historic Victorian-era estate property, adding a layer of architectural significance to the team’s fond memories of their unique workplace.
The End of an Era
The story of the agency as a private limited company formally concluded in the late 2010s, marking a deliberate and strategic transition. The process was documented in official filings, providing a clear timeline for the end of the Castle Hobo era.
The Legacy Carried Forward
The dissolution of the limited company was the end of a chapter, not the end of the story.
The expertise, the “white hat” ethical approach, the hard-won reputation, and the very name “Hobo”—a moniker recognised within the global SEO community—were all forged during the agency years by the team detailed in this article.
These invaluable assets were carried forward by the founder. The current hobo-web.co.uk is the direct and thriving legacy of that era. It is a business that has successfully evolved from a local, service-based agency into a global, product-led consultancy, offering sophisticated SEO tools and strategies to a worldwide audience.
This modern entity is built upon a foundation of over two decades of experience, a journey that began with a group of talented, loyal, and incredible people in a converted stable in Greenock.
The story of the team of Castle Hobo and Hobohemia of 2006-2019 is, and always will be, the essential, foundational chapter of the Hobo brand’s ongoing success.
