Westminster Abbey is a royal church offering daily services for all and a World Heritage Site with over a thousand years of history. It’s a busy organisation with a diverse workforce—many of whom are not desk-based and work across a wide range of roles.
The Abbey set out to transform its ageing intranet, AbbeyNet. The aim was to better support its 350 people with a modern platform that reflected how they worked, improved access to essential information, and reinforced a sense of connection across the organisation.
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The Challenge
AbbeyNet had supported Westminster Abbey’s internal communication since 2009, with a refresh and move to WordPress in 2016. Over time, however, the way people worked—and what they needed from an intranet—had evolved. A strategic review of internal communications, led by the Abbey’s newly appointed Internal Communications Manager, highlighted some important areas for improvement:
- Access and usability: Logging in was very difficult, particularly for staff without regular access to devices, and key information was often hard to find.
- Content clarity: Without a clear governance model, content had become difficult to manage, with some information out of date or hard to find.
- Engagement and ownership: While there had been earlier efforts to encourage more distributed content management, these hadn’t fully taken hold—leaving teams unsure of how or when to contribute.
To begin this transformation, the Abbey made the decision to move AbbeyNet onto SharePoint Online. The Abbey’s ICT team laid the technical foundations, but there was a need for further support in shaping the experience: designing the site structure, refining the information architecture, and creating a user-focused interface that would be intuitive and engaging.
Conversations with staff revealed a clear set of priorities: simple, reliable access to the resources they need; news and updates in one place; effective search; and continuity of team directories and staff profiles.
With SharePoint in place and strong internal momentum through regular engagement with staff, the Abbey had a valuable opportunity: to create a modern, inclusive AbbeyNet—built for the future and focused on employee needs.
The Solution
How We Helped
We worked closely with Westminster Abbey to shape a new version of AbbeyNet—designed around real staff needs, aligned with internal priorities, and built to grow.
Understanding Staff Needs
We began the project with a tour of the Abbey—an opportunity to immerse ourselves in its unique setting and better understand how staff work day to day across multiple locations. Experiencing the space first-hand helped us see things from their perspective and added valuable context to the rest of the project.
We then dived into discovery workshops to understand how staff use the intranet, what challenges they face, and what they need most from a new version. We mapped out user personas, reviewed content journeys, and helped define what success would look like.
This early collaboration set the tone for the rest of the project—keeping the focus firmly on simplicity, clarity, and accessibility for all staff, whether desk-based or on the move.
Structuring the Experience
Next, we worked with the Abbey team to define how the intranet should be organised. Together, we created a clear, intuitive site structure and navigation model that made it easier for people to find what they need—whether it’s HR forms, staff news, or team pages.
We helped define content ownership and permissions—laying the groundwork for sustainable governance.
Designing for Impact
Using SharePoint’s out-of-the-box functionality, we created a modern, mobile-friendly intranet experience that felt familiar but much easier to use. Key design elements included:
- A clear, welcoming homepage with quick links to popular tools and up-to-date news
- Dedicated pages for HR resources, staff benefits, team directories, and Abbey essentials
- Templates that made it simple for teams to manage their own content
This MVP approach gave the Abbey a practical, well-scoped foundation to build on over time.
We also provided training and a detailed solution guide, so the Abbey team could confidently manage and expand the platform after launch.
Examples of the design templates created for Westminster Abbey
“We have all thoroughly enjoyed working with Silicon Reef to deliver the new AbbeyNet. The team provided brilliant strategic insight and expertise on how to maximise the use of SharePoint in a way that best suits the needs of Westminster Abbey and our colleagues. The designs focused on maximising SharePoint’s out-of-the-box features while ensuring strong alignment with the Abbey brand and avoiding a ‘corporate’ look…
The user workshops Silicon Reef facilitated engaged staff across the organisation and fostered a spirit of strong collaboration. We have exciting plans to continue working with the team throughout 2026 to build out our digital platforms for staff and volunteers and I would have no hesitation in recommending them.”
Key Results
The Impact
The new AbbeyNet is already transforming how Westminster Abbey’s staff access and share information. With a modern, mobile-friendly platform now in place, employees can find what they need more easily—whether that’s policies, news, or team contact details.
Rapid Adoption
90% of staff accessed the homepage within the first week, showing strong engagement from day one.
Improved Information Access
72% explored News and Events, and staff reported finding forms and updates in seconds.
Positive User Experience
Feedback highlights a cleaner design, easier login, and mobile-friendly access—making work simpler and faster.
The structure is designed for scale, with clear ownership and flexibility built in. Staff feedback has been positive, including:
“It’s so much cleaner and clearer. I’ve already found things I didn’t know were happening, which is great.”
“Huge, huge improvement, thank you.”
“The login process is much easier, especially when I use my phone.”
“I managed to find the form I need in a few seconds.”
In the first seven days 90% of staff visited the homepage, and 72% explored the News and Events section.
The Abbey now has a solid foundation for future enhancements. From deeper Teams integration to more interactive content or Microsoft Viva tools. This is just the beginning, but the results so far reflect a successful first step: an intranet shaped around the people it serves, built to evolve, and designed to support the Abbey’s mission for years to come.
