British Heart Foundation

At a glance

Sector: Not for Profit

Organisation: British Heart Foundation

People: Around 4,500 colleagues

Locations: Retail stores, distribution centres, contact centre and offices across the UK

Key outcomes

Redesigned information architecture ahead of a critical Microsoft SharePoint deadline
Simpler access to trusted information for colleagues across the organisation
Stronger governance and content ownership
Reduced technical debt and duplicated content
Future-ready SharePoint foundations for AI and knowledge management

heart doctor typing on laptop with heart beat print out and stethoscope

British Heart Foundation:
Building strong SharePoint foundations for a better digital employee experience

The Challenge

British Heart Foundation's document management and team collaboration platform has evolved over many years.

Hundreds of Microsoft SharePoint sites, thousands of pages and documents, business-critical Power Apps and operational resources supported colleagues across the organisation. But over time, ownership, governance and content structure had become increasingly difficult to manage.

With a fixed deadline - Microsoft's retirement of Classic SharePoint - British Heart Foundation needed to modernise quickly without disrupting day-to-day operations.

This wasn't simply a SharePoint platform upgrade. It was an opportunity to simplify information, improve governance and create a digital foundation built around how colleagues actually work.

"This was a technically complex programme with a fixed deadline, a large volume of legacy content and some significant migration challenges. Work Networks brought the knowledge, structure and determination needed to keep the programme moving while helping us navigate difficult technical decisions along the way."

Dean Tandy, Director of Infosec and Technology Experience

Female doctor explaining heart test results

fruit and oats in the shape of a healthy heart

The Solution

Work Networks worked with BHF's IT and Internal Communications teams to redesign SharePoint while protecting the services colleagues relied on every day.

Together, we streamlined hundreds of SharePoint sites with thousands of pages, migrated critical business applications and reorganised information around colleague needs rather than historic organisational structures. A phased migration prioritised highest-risk operational areas, ensuring critical services remained available throughout.

At the same time, we strengthened governance, clarified ownership and equipped content owners with the confidence to manage the platform long after the project had finished.

The result was a cleaner, simpler and more sustainable digital foundation, combining technical delivery with employee experience design to ensure the new set up would support today's operational needs and tomorrow's digital ambitions.

The Impact

The business-critical elements of the programme were delivered within just three months, enabling BHF to meet Microsoft's retirement deadline for Classic SharePoint. The wider digital modernisation was completed in around six months, significantly faster than originally anticipated.

Today, colleagues have quicker access to trusted information through a more intuitive digital platform that's easier to navigate and maintain.

Behind the scenes, stronger governance and clearer ownership have reduced technical debt, simplified content management and created a more resilient platform for the future.

"The Work Networks team were approachable, pragmatic and incredibly responsive throughout the project. They helped bring together IT, Internal Communications and business stakeholders around a shared vision, whilst always keeping us focused on what would deliver the greatest value for colleagues.

The result is far more than a successful SharePoint migration. We've created a much stronger foundation for the future of our digital workplace."

Jude Ajakaiye, Infosec Project Manager

What’s Next for British Heart Foundation

By modernising the underlying digital foundations, BHF is now in a much stronger position to take advantage of future innovations, including AI-powered knowledge discovery, improved employee experiences and the next generation of digital workplace capabilities.