Independent.
By nature.

A digital studio. A growing world of products. Some rather unusual places to stay.

Z9R brings together independent businesses in digital, commerce and hospitality. We build software, bring products to market and give unusual places a new purpose.

Meet the businesses
Inside Web Optic’s Staffordshire studio
DIGITAL
Web OpticWhere it all started.
 Three colourful Beyond Shakers bottles in a gym
COMMERCE
BeyondProducts. Brands. Distribution.
 The restored octagonal Bottle Lodge in Tixall
HOSPITALITY
Strange StaysSomewhere out of the ordinary.
Independently built. Actively managed.Associated venture: HSM Advanced Systems

Our businesses

A shared foundation.
Room to do their own thing.

The group’s foundations are in Web Optic. That experience in technology and commerce supports a growing range of products, brands and unusual places to stay.

Digital · The core business

Web Optic.

The digital expertise
behind the group.

Visit Web Optic
Desks, workstations and pink lighting inside Web Optic’s Staffordshire studio
Our Staffordshire studio

WEBSITES · COMMERCE · SOFTWARE

Building online businesses
since 2010.

Bespoke websites, Shopify stores and custom software, built and supported by our Staffordshire team. Web Optic works with businesses locally, across the UK and further afield.

That experience also shapes our own ventures, from running online stores to developing new software platforms.

800+websites & applications delivered
Since 2010independent, hands-on digital work
Shopify Partnerbuilding stores & running our own

IN DEVELOPMENT AT WEB OPTIC

The research engine

Timeless Intelligence

A platform being built to turn the open web into structured, trustworthy knowledge across industries.

Starting with a research brief, it is designed to assess sources and reconcile facts into consistent records. Conclusions stay linked to their evidence, with history preserved, ongoing updates and human review when needed.

Timeless Intelligence

Its first public product

Timeless Hideaways

Powered by Timeless Intelligence, a curated way to discover distinctive historic holiday accommodation - from gate lodges and mills to follies, towers and castles.

The engine will research and maintain the property records. Hideaways will bring the places and their stories to life, with links to owners and booking platforms to book.

Timeless Hideaways
Beyond Shakers bottles in pink, purple, blue and orange
Beyond Shakers

Commerce · Go Beyond Distribution

Beyond.

Our brands.
More possibilities.

An expanding retail and wholesale business, bringing products to customers through our own websites, Amazon and other marketplaces.

OUR OWN BRAND

Beyond Shakers

Stainless steel shakers, bottles and fitness accessories - now expanding into creatine, vitamins, electrolytes and other supplements.

Explore Beyond Shakers
OFFICIAL PARTNER & DISTRIBUTOR

Britool Hallmark

Professional tools supplied through marketplaces and wholesale, with the official Britool Hallmark online store preparing to launch.

Visit Britool Hallmark

We’re gradually adding other products and brand partnerships to the distribution business.

The restored octagonal Bottle Lodge, part of the Strange Stays collection
Bottle Lodge, Tixall

Hospitality · Unusual places

Strange Stays.

Buildings with a past.
Stays with a difference.

A growing collection of unusual holiday lets, restored, owned and operated with care. Beginning in Staffordshire, with more distinctive properties to follow over time.

Welcoming guests

Bottle Lodge

A restored Grade II-listed octagonal lodge in Tixall.
Restoration beginning

Pump House, Weston

The next property in the Strange Stays collection.
OUR OWN OPERATING SOFTWARE

Built under the Strange Stays brand to bring bookings, guests, reviews and finances together across properties and booking platforms.

Discover Strange Stays

Beyond the group

A separate venture.
A shared interest in better software.

Z9R’s founder is a director and one of three co-owners of HSM Advanced Systems, a separate company.

HSM Advanced Systems · First product

floorlogik

Less admin.
More control of the flooring business.

FloorLogik connects quotes, stock, fitting and invoicing for flooring and tile retailers, keeping the information together from the first enquiry to the final payment.

Explore FloorLogik

In the press

A few stories
from along the way.

Product features, restoration stories and the sale of Textplode - a selection of coverage from across the businesses.

Printweek
TEXTPLODE · ACQUISITION

MBA Group’s acquisition of Textplode

Read the story
Women’s Health
BEYOND SHAKERS · PRODUCT FEATURE

Beyond Shakers in the protein shaker guide

Read the feature
Athletics Weekly
BEYOND SHAKERS · GEAR GUIDE

Featured in the spring marathon gear guide

Read the feature
BBCNEWS
BOTTLE LODGE · ONLINE FEATURE

The restoration of Bottle Lodge

Read the story
HELLO!
BOTTLE LODGE · TRAVEL FEATURE

Featured in HELLO!’s UK cottage selection

Read the feature
BBCRadio Stoke
BOTTLE LODGE · RADIO

The Bottle Lodge restoration story

Radio interview

For interviews, press enquiries or restoration photography, get in touch.

The story of the group

Independent. Based in Staffordshire.

Built from
experience.

From a digital studio
to a wider group.

Z9R grew out of Web Optic, the Staffordshire digital business established in 2010. Experience from building websites, software and online stores now supports the group’s work in commerce and hospitality.

Its story includes the launch of Beyond Shakers, the restoration of Bottle Lodge and the development of Textplode, the SMS marketing platform acquired by MBA Group in 2026.

Founded by Ben Harrison, with more than 20 years’ experience in digital.

2010

A small beginning

Web Optic starts life in a home office.

2017

Beyond the screen

Beyond Shakers launches. Web Optic becomes a Shopify Partner.

2020

Something unusual

Bottle Lodge is purchased, beginning its restoration story.

2023

A permanent home

A renovated Hixon headquarters brings digital and product operations together.

2026

The next chapter

Textplode is sold to MBA Group. Bottle Lodge opens to guests. Z9R takes shape.

Read the full Web Optic story

Get in touch

Good things start
with a conversation.

For business opportunities, brand partnerships and press enquiries, get in touch.

hi@weboptic.com Staffordshire, United Kingdom