How we got here.
Ferly grew out of a pattern. For thirty years I worked in SEO and web development — mostly larger-scale projects, ecommerce, technical builds. But over the last few years, small hospitality operators started finding their way to me. Holiday lets in Scotland, chalets in the French Alps. Small businesses with good properties, all facing the same two problems: platform dependence and commission drag.
Their product was good. Their websites weren't delivering.
What started as a sideline became a specialism. I brought in a small, trusted team, and Ferly is that specialism given a name and a home.
Platforms are a tax on everything.
Taxis, takeaways, holidays, music — there's a middleman in every transaction now, taking a cut and owning the relationship. Of course they're handy, and as an operator they're a rational short-term choice — but they're squeezing out the people who actually do the work. A holiday let owner who's invested everything in a property shouldn't be handing over 15–20% of every booking to a platform that treats them as inventory.
Buy direct. Book direct. Own your relationships. Remove the middleman. That's not just a business position — it's what I believe. Ferly exists to give small operators the digital infrastructure to make that possible. Use the platforms on your terms, but build something that doesn't need them.
Small by choice.
We're based in Edinburgh. We work on retainer with a small number of clients because that's a model that works for both sides — we can work properly on your site, well planned, well thought through, not rushed or squeezed in between bigger jobs.
We work with small operators because we like working with small operators. No procurement process, no six weeks of paperwork before anyone touches a keyboard. We agree what needs doing, we build a framework, and we get on with it.
And the days of paying £10k+ for a website build are over. The world has changed. We can build seriously good sites in days, not weeks. But anyone can build a website now — a £30 platform, an AI generator, a weekend, a template. The hard part was never the building. It's knowing what to build, and why, and what to do with it once it's live. That's the bit that's missing from every template site and every AI-generated page — the thinking behind it.
That's not where your money should go anyway. It should go into making the site work — keeping it visible, keeping it earning, keeping it evolving. The build is the starting point, not the product.
Paul Rollo — Founder
A digital strategist, web developer, and SEO consultant with a career spanning three decades. While my background is in complex ecommerce and big data builds, my work is now increasingly focused on helping the hospitality sector reclaim its independence. Based in Edinburgh, I spend my time off-screen wandering about Edinburgh, in the kitchen with a bottle of wine or, given the chance, on a snowboard. I built Ferly to give small operators the digital infrastructure to bypass the "platform tax," own their customer relationships, and build their own businesses.
If this doesn't put you off then we should definitely talk — hello@ferly.dev
Or start with a site review and we'll come prepared.
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