03/09/2026
After nearly a decade, has officially stepped down as a director of HPM.
Charles started Holland Park Media in 2017 with the ambition of launching innovative Art-Tech startups. This included ArtBay, an app designed to be something like Pokémon GO for museums and galleries, and Azelo, a digital art trading platform exploring NFTs before they were even called NFTs. That was the original path that eventually led to the HPM we know today.
Just a year later, Ali joined Charles as a late co-founder and business partner. Together, they worked on the startups while taking on consultancy and marketing projects to keep the company moving. Little did they know that HPM’s path would soon take a very different direction.
Over the years, the startups made way for something bigger. HPM grew into a creative media and marketing skill house, bringing together talented people to deliver creative, marketing and production work for organisations big and small, local and global.
Just over a year ago, Charles stepped away from an active role at HPM and handed full control of the company to Ali. This past week, he sold his remaining stake, completing his exit from the company and making Ali the full owner of HPM.
Charles will remain close to HPM as a trusted advisor, and more importantly, as someone who has been part of its story from day one.
We’d also like to thank our always trusted friends at Tax Advice for structuring the legal side of the acquisition, and Chris for executing the deeds, as he has done for our company for nearly a decade.
It might look like a new chapter for HPM, but in many ways it is a continuation of what we have been building all along: a place where talented people can grow, creativity gets put to work, and we deliver what we promise with integrity and professionalism.
The next part of the HPM story starts here.