At Manchester Digital, we regularly shine a light on our members to understand more about their roles and their work within Greater Manchester’s digital and technology community. This week, we’re speaking with Victoria Haley and Lisa Hughes, Co-founders and Directors of HuHa PR.
Can you tell us a bit about HuHa Agency and the kind of work you specialise in within the digital and tech sector?
HuHa is a director-led PR and communications agency headed by Lisa Hughes and Victoria Haley. We specialse in bridging the gap between complex digital innovation and the end user, specifically within the digital and technology sectors. In layman terms we get clients’ press and media coverage that their target clients / audience reads to drive leads and interest into the business.
So our mission is to amplifiy the reputation of our clients by educating their key audiences, both current and prospective, on the benefits and impact of their technology or business. We don’t just aim for press coverage, we aim to make our clients an authority in their sector and sector famous for whatever will make the biggest commercial impact.
What sets HuHa apart is our understanding of how the media landscape has shifted and how we need to constantly align our strategies to support this. We focus on:
- Setting the Long Term Strategy and creating a plan: Making sure the foundations of the business, the growth ambitions and objectives and ensuring the strategy and then the messaging is going to support this is where we start. We need to properly understand a business and where it wants to be so we can act as commercially relevant as possible.
- Strategic Education: We translate technology specifications into digestible communication that appeals to customers and investors. There’s a lot of jargon around, we need to break that down into digestible info and give your customers a reason to be in touch.
- High-Authority Coverage: We secure placements in respected, top tier publications that build immediate credibility. It’s not a numbers game, one piece in a well respected title, will give your business much more of an advantage than lots of low tier coverage.
- The AI Advantage (LLM Optimisation): The world of PR is changing so we need to also. By generating quality coverage on authoritative sites, we essentially feed the data for Large Language Models (LLMs) which is yet another way your customers will find you. We need to give these AI engines what they want so you can feed into it.
- Constant evaluation: We need to make sure that the right messages are landing in front of the right people, so it’s important we’re constantly evaluating this and making any necessary tweaks along the way. Businesses constantly evolve so your comms strategy needs to echo this, yet maintain consistency.
Why LLM Visibility Matters Nowadays
In 2026 your reputation isn't just found on Google, it's synthesised by AI. By building a massive footprint of respected digital content, we ensure our clients are:
- More Visible on AI Platforms: When a prospect asks an AI agent for a recommendation, your brand is part of its training data.
- Investor Ready: We create the digital trail of success that investors look for during due diligence.
- First inline for Prospects: We ensure that when a customer searches for a solution, our clients aren't just mentioned—they are the industry benchmark.
What types of businesses or founders do you typically work best with, and where do you feel you add the most value?
We work with technology clients at all stages of their lifecycle from startup to scale. Whether a founder is really early in their journey and needs support with their messaging strategy to attract investors, or it’s a global tech brand that is doing great things elsewhere in the world but wants to access the UK, we would work on regionalising their offering and ensuring their global message lands here. Regardless of size, we work well with ambitious leaders who have a real vision and want their product or service to succeed. And as straight talkers ourselves, we prefer to know the real deal, so that helps too!
You’ve worked across a range of sectors - what are you seeing right now in terms of how tech businesses are approaching brand, PR, and visibility?
Despite working in technology, business owners are still relying on social media and SEO when they should be also looking at creating PR content for respected publications to meet the needs of our increased AI world. By creating long form content that positions their business as an authority in their sector, they are creating long-term positive brand awareness. We recommend tech businesses reassess their communications strategy to concentrate on their LLM impact.
You’ve both done a lot of work supporting women in tech and female founders - why is that important to you, and what impact are you seeing?
Supporting women in tech and female founders is more than a professional focus for us, it’s a mission to correct a longstanding imbalance.
As women in tech ourselves, although we are orbiting tech, rather than creating it, we’ve met countless amazing women who just don’t have the same confidence as their male counterparts and it’s something we always try and support with our clients.
We are currently proud supporters of the Bruntwood Female Incubator programme, where we will mentor the cohort on the strategic importance of PR for scaling a technology business.
Our work centers on a simple but vital goal: encouraging women in tech to be louder and helping them reclaim their fair share of the media spotlight. For decades, the industry has been dominated by male voices, which has unfortunately led to inherent biases in the very technology we use every day.
Why This Matters Now
When women are absent from the narrative, the resulting tech often fails to reflect the needs of the entire population. We believe that:
- Representation Corrects Bias: Diversifying the voices in tech leads to more inclusive, ethical, and effective innovation.
- Media Presence Equals Power: By taking up space in respected publications, female founders aren't just building brands, they are providing the "proof of concept" that inspires the next generation of women.
- Economic Impact: We see firsthand that when female founders gain high level visibility, it narrows the funding gap and creates a more equitable landscape for investors and employees alike.
For us, this change isn't just ‘nice to have’, it’s essential for a healthier, more representative digital future. By helping these founders find their voice, we aren't just changing the headlines; we're changing the industry.
What are some of the biggest challenges your clients face when it comes to telling their story or building their profile?
For many tech founders, building a profile is often treated as an ‘afterthought’ - something to deal with once the product is perfect. In reality, the biggest challenges our clients face usually stem from timing and the inherent pressure of the tech landscape:
- The ‘Finance First’ Trap: Many founders only realise the importance of a public profile when they start raising investment. By then, they’re playing catchup. A strong profile should be the foundation for raising finance, not a reaction to it.
- The Proof of Concept Gap: New technology founders often struggle to tell their story because they feel they don’t have enough "proof points" yet. Our job is to help them bridge that gap by demonstrating their vision, the problem they are solving, and their unique intellectual property.
- Media Hesitation: Many brilliant technical minds find media relations intimidating. Whether it's "imposter syndrome" or a fear of being misquoted, founders often resist commenting on industry trends. We work to break down that resistance, showing them that taking up space in the media is a powerful tool for growth, not a risk to be avoided.
Ultimately, the challenge isn't just ‘getting in the news’ it's about building the consistent authority that makes investors and customers take notice before they’re even asked.
With the rise of AI and more automated content, how do you think businesses can stand out and maintain an authentic voice?
The rise of AI has offered businesses an advantage in standing out and creating an authentic voice. By working with a PR professional, Founders can build their profile to represent their technology business’ brand. As we’ve discussed earlier, creating long form thought leadership pieces offering advice or a strong opinion on industry trends can position the business as a trusted authority within the sector. By placing these pieces on respected publication platforms AI can easily find the business in searches and note it as a credible source.
AI isn't the saviour though and businesses need to ensure their thoughts and ideas are actually authentic and you don't sound like a bot. You also need to ensure your business messages are consistent and landing with the right audience. AI can facilitate but it can't replace a human.
What advice would you give to a growing tech business that wants to raise its profile but doesn’t know where to start?
We’d always say to set those foundations from day dot. Start your business on the right foot, engage with a PR professional to create your communication strategy, boilerplate, key messages and targeted personas. This document will be invaluable to your launch, ensuring your message is on point and essential to scale your business. The messaging in this strategy will enable you to create ongoing media momentum, build your trusted brand and ultimately enable you to create customers and raise finance. Contact us at lisa@huha.agency or victoria@huha.agency.
Thank you Lisa and Victoria!
To find out more about HuHa PR, click here.
