Most internal communication problems aren’t really technology problems. Information ends up scattered across email, shared drives, Teams, and a few people’s heads, and staff spend a surprising chunk of the week just hunting for the current version of something. An intranet is meant to fix that. The trouble is that a lot of off-the-shelf intranet software doesn’t, it just becomes another rigid system your team works around.
We build custom intranet software for UK businesses instead, shaped around how your organisation actually runs. The work starts by understanding your real workflows and where information goes missing, then we build a hub that fits them, rather than asking everyone to relearn their job around a generic product.
There’s also the commercial side. Per-user SaaS platforms charge every month, for every employee, forever, and you never own anything. We build intranets you own outright, codebase and data, so the system is a business asset rather than a subscription that grows with your headcount.
Where off-the-shelf intranets fall short
Generic platforms demo well. For a lot of growing organisations, here’s what shows up once they’re live:
- Adoption stalls. This is the big one. A large share of staff barely open the intranet after launch, and many revert straight back to email and messaging apps. The platform becomes a duplicate nobody trusts.
- Search is weak out of the box. Poor search is one of the most common complaints, including with SharePoint. If people can’t find things quickly, they stop looking.
- It’s built around the org chart, not the work. Information filed under HR, Finance and Operations frustrates people who are looking for a task, not a department.
- Per-user pricing climbs with headcount. At £8-30 per user per month, a few hundred staff is a meaningful annual bill, and it gets worse as you grow. Contractors, partners and frontline staff all add cost.
- Frontline and mobile staff get neglected. Mobile-responsive is not the same as mobile-first. Shift and field workers often can’t get in easily, so half the organisation is left out.
- Customisation is charged for. Approval workflows, branding and non-standard integrations frequently sit behind premium tiers or per-feature fees, often £5,000 or more each.
- You’re tied to someone else’s roadmap. Vendors raise prices, drop features, and get acquired. Deep Microsoft 365 or Salesforce integration can make switching prohibitively expensive.
The real cost isn’t the licence fee. It’s the lost time, the workarounds, and an intranet that quietly stops being used.
What we build instead
We design around how people actually look for things Before any code is written, we map your processes and the points where information goes missing. The intranet is organised around tasks people need to do, not the shape of your org chart, which is the single biggest factor in whether it gets used.
Search that actually works Full-text search across documents, news, profiles and conversations, with proper indexing, filters and tagging. If people can find what they need in seconds, the intranet earns its place.
Frontline and mobile included If you have shift, field or multi-site staff, we build mobile-first from the start, not desktop software with a phone view bolted on.
You pay once and own it No per-user licences. You own the codebase and the data outright. For organisations of any real size, the ownership cost over three to five years usually compares well against subscriptions, and it doesn’t balloon as you hire.
It connects to what you already run We build the integrations to your real systems: single sign-on, HR data, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Teams or Slack, and CRM or ERP where it matters, including legacy systems generic platforms won’t touch.
Compliance built in, not bolted on UK GDPR, audit trails, retention rules and UK hosting are designed in from the start, including the heavier requirements regulated sectors carry.
You talk to the people who built it Our UK team handles discovery, build, rollout and support directly. No timezone gap, no ticket queue, no black box.
Features and modules we build
Every build is scoped to the organisation, but these are the capabilities we deliver most often:
Employee hub and news — A central landing page with announcements and news, targeted by department, location or role, with pinning, scheduling and expiry so content doesn’t go stale.
Employee directory — Searchable profiles with role, team, manager, location, skills and contact details, kept current by syncing from your HR system.
Document and file management — Version-controlled storage with granular, document-level permissions, full version history and audit logs.
Search and discovery — Full-text search with relevance ranking, filters, metadata tagging and auto-suggestions across documents, news and people.
Knowledge base and wiki — Procedures, policies, SOPs and FAQs in one searchable place, so institutional knowledge doesn’t walk out the door when experienced staff leave.
Team and project spaces — Collaboration areas for departments or projects, with their own documents, discussions and permissions.
Workflow automation — Approval chains, request forms and routine processes, including multi-level and conditional approvals with escalation and a full audit trail.
Single sign-on and user sync — Azure AD, Okta or LDAP for login, plus automated user provisioning from your HR system so the directory stays accurate.
Mobile access — Responsive web as standard, and a native iOS and Android app where frontline access and offline capability matter.
Analytics — Engagement dashboards, content performance, and search analytics, including the failed searches that tell you what people can’t find.
Notifications — In-app, email digest, push and SMS, with per-user control over channel and frequency.
Security and compliance — UK-hosted options, encryption in transit and at rest, multi-factor authentication, immutable audit logs and retention policies.
How a project runs
We work in phases, and we deliberately ship a useful core before chasing every feature.
1. Discovery and design (3 to 6 weeks) Interviews with the people who’ll use it, mapping workflows, agreeing the information architecture, and being honest about what belongs in phase one.
2. Build (8 to 16 weeks for the core) Agile development with regular reviews, so you see progress and can steer. Core intranet, directory, documents, search and single sign-on come first.
3. Migration, testing and rollout (3 to 6 weeks) Content migration is usually harder than people expect, real work means cleaning, deduplicating and reorganising, not copy-paste. We run user acceptance testing and a phased rollout by department.
4. Training and support (ongoing) Role-based training, documentation and UK-based support.
A core build typically reaches launch in three to four months. Workflow automation, a native app, deeper integrations and advanced search tend to land in a second phase. Heavily integrated or compliance-bound builds run longer, and we’ll say so upfront.
A note on what usually goes wrong: intranet projects fail on adoption and content quality far more often than on technology. We plan for that, with task-based design, executive sponsorship, clear content ownership, and a rollout that builds momentum rather than launching quietly into silence.
What it costs
Custom development is paid upfront. The honest version of the trade-off:
- A core intranet build is typically a five-figure investment, with larger, multi-integration or compliance-heavy builds running higher.
- After launch, your main ongoing cost is hosting, support and enhancements, not per-seat licences.
- SaaS subscriptions keep rising with headcount and with vendor price increases. Ownership doesn’t, which is why custom tends to win over a three to five year horizon, particularly at scale or with a lot of contractors and frontline staff.
- The system keeps its value as you refine it, and a new workflow or report is a change request rather than a tier upgrade.
Where SaaS or open-source genuinely is the better answer, we’ll tell you. If your workflows are standard, your headcount is modest, and your integration needs are limited to common platforms, a SaaS intranet may be the sensible choice, and we can help you set one up well. Custom earns its place when you have proprietary workflows, deep or legacy integrations, regulated-sector compliance needs, a per-user bill that’s getting painful, or frontline teams a desktop-first product can’t serve. A free consultation gives you a real comparison for your situation.
Where this works
We’ve built or scoped custom intranets across a range of sectors, each with its own requirements:
Healthcare — Clinical protocols and policy updates pushed to frontline staff, complex shift scheduling, multi-site coordination across clinics and hospitals, and the audit trails and information governance the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit expects.
Manufacturing and engineering — SOPs and work instructions accessible on the shop floor via kiosk or mobile, safety briefings, equipment and maintenance logs, quality alerts, and production coordination across multiple sites.
Retail and hospitality — Mobile-first access for store and venue staff to schedules, promotions and training, shift swaps and time-off requests, and consistent brand and policy standards across many locations.
Financial services — Enhanced audit trails and six-year-plus retention for FCA-bound records, segregation of duties in approval workflows, compliance documentation for advisers, and rapid targeted communication during market events.
Professional services — Client and matter knowledge bases, precedents and methodologies, secure project spaces, and audit trails for regulatory and client requirements across multiple offices.
Education — Staff collaboration, policy and curriculum distribution, calendar and event communication, and safeguarding records aligned with Ofsted expectations.
Construction — Project documentation control, subcontractor collaboration, and site safety information available on mobile.
Charities and multi-site organisations — Volunteer and partner access without per-user licensing penalties, and consistent communication across dispersed teams.
Because it’s built for you, the intranet handles the specific workflows, integrations and compliance requirements of your industry, rather than asking you to settle for the nearest generic fit.
Common Questions About Custom Intranet Solutions
How does a custom intranet compare on cost to SaaS platforms?
Per-user SaaS pricing usually runs £8-30 per user per month, so a 500-person company can spend £100,000+ a year on licences alone, rising sharply with headcount. A custom build is a larger upfront cost but caps that growth: ownership tends to work out cheaper across a three to five year horizon, especially if you're growing or have a lot of contractors and frontline staff. We'll give you a clear comparison for your numbers, not a generic promise.
What's a realistic development timeline?
A core intranet, employee directory, news, document management, search and single sign-on, usually ships in three to four months. Workflow automation, a native mobile app, HR or ERP integration and advanced search tend to follow in a second phase. Heavily integrated or compliance-bound builds run longer. We ship the core early so people get value before the whole thing is finished.
What happens after launch with updates and changes?
You own the codebase and the data, so you're never locked into a vendor roadmap. We offer support arrangements for hosting, security patches, and enhancements, and you can scale that up or down. Because the system is yours, a new approval workflow or report is a change request, not a tier upgrade or a per-feature fee.
Can you integrate with our existing systems?
Yes. Common connections include Azure AD or LDAP for single sign-on and user sync, HR systems such as Workday, SuccessFactors or ADP for the employee directory, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Teams and Slack for notifications, and CRM or ERP systems where intranet content needs live business data. We also build glue code for legacy or in-house systems that off-the-shelf platforms won't touch.
How do you handle data security and compliance?
We build to UK GDPR from the start: data retention and storage limitation, right-to-be-forgotten, access logging, and a Data Processing Agreement where relevant. Regulated clients often need more, immutable audit trails, six-year-plus retention for FCA-bound records, NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit alignment, or UK-only hosting. Because the build is yours, those controls go in by design rather than being limited to an enterprise tier.
Will people actually use it?
That's the real risk. Most intranets fail on adoption, not technology: a large share of staff barely open them. We design around how people actually look for information, task-based rather than org-chart-based, make search genuinely good, and make sure frontline and mobile staff can get in easily. We also help with phased rollout and training so the launch doesn't stall.
Do you provide training for our team?
Yes. Training is tailored to each role: a short overview for everyday users, deeper sessions for content editors and communications staff, and technical training for IT admins on user management and security. We provide documentation and recorded material so onboarding new starters doesn't need a live session every time.