A Need for Smarter Systems
City Facilities Management (CFM) is a global leader in facilities services, supporting clients across retail, leisure, hospitality, and commercial sectors. With a workforce of over 9,000 employees, the company depends on smooth internal communication and clear operational workflows to keep everything running.
CFM approached Zen with the goal of redesigning their internal staff intranet. The existing platform had become a bottleneck: difficult to navigate, poorly adopted, and unable to support effective collaboration across departments and locations. The new system needed to be functional, flexible, and ready to scale with the organisation.
Digital Marketing Umbraco Web & Intranet DevelopmentAD integration Design and DevelopmentAzure Secure DeploymentsContent Creation
We began by analysing the challenges in the legacy system, working with stakeholders across multiple departments to understand what employees actually needed from their intranet. The goal was to create a platform that was simple to use but robust enough to serve a large, geographically dispersed workforce.
The new intranet was designed from the ground up on Umbraco, with a clean, user-focused structure. It provided quick access to everyday tools like holiday booking, HR documents, internal news, and employee benefits. We also integrated a secure job portal to support internal recruitment and promote professional mobility within the business.
Recognising that connection goes beyond practical tools, we added a forum to encourage dialogue and knowledge-sharing across teams. This gave staff a space to collaborate, ask questions, and share updates regardless of their role or location.
Given the scale of CFM’s operations, technical resilience and security were essential. We deployed the new platform on Microsoft Azure, incorporating a high-security release pipeline. The system was fully integrated with SharePoint and connected to City FM’s Active Directory, allowing seamless and secure access for employees across all sites.
The new intranet gave CFM a central hub tailored to the real needs of its people. The design improved adoption and engagement, the technical build ensured high reliability and data security, and the added features created space for both communication and collaboration.
Most importantly, the system was built with long-term flexibility in mind, giving CFM a platform that can grow with their organisation and continue to serve their team wherever they are in the world.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Can't recommend Alan and his team at The Zen Agency highly enough. Extremely happy with both the look and functionality of our new website, and the associated digital marketing campaign. They have supported me through every step of the process with clear advice and a ‘can-do’ attitude."
Alison Lawson, Marketing Manager - Bell Ingram
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