By Adam Hickman, Microsoft 365 consultant lead
Powered by Lightspeed365. Delivered by our team at Content Formula, the consultancy behind Lightspeed365.
Summary
Our client is a motor racing team with three different operating companies, all located on the same campus. Each company had its own individual intranet. They needed a unified SharePoint intranet that supported one employee experience and a stronger connection with the overall brand, while also making key processes faster across the three operating companies. Working with Communications & Marketing and IT, we designed and built a branded Lightspeed365 intranet with custom web parts for campus announcements, race countdown, parts search, and role-based task lists.
Three companies, one campus, three intranets
The split was the problem. Three operating companies on one site meant three places to look, three publishing rhythms, and little sense of a shared group brand. Productivity suffered where people needed the same tools and the same answers, particularly in engineering.
Any new intranet had to feel like the organisation - distinctive branding without giving up SharePoint usability - and it had to respect a complex security model. Sensitive data and intellectual property needed to stay inside the right operating company, without turning search into a dead end or the homepage into a locked-down shell.
The approach
We combined SharePoint intranet consulting with Lightspeed365 implementation, working with Communications & Marketing and IT throughout.
Discovery and user journeys. Online and in-person workshops across the business to identify requirements and map how people actually get work done.
Wireframes and iteration. Mockups to refine journeys and designs from user and stakeholder feedback, before build started.
Build on SharePoint with Lightspeed365. Once the designs were agreed, we built the new intranet inside Microsoft 365, using Lightspeed365 components alongside custom web parts where the brief was too specific for a standard part.
Preserving unique branding
The client wanted the new intranet to strongly reflect their highly distinctive corporate branding, helping to foster employee engagement and a sense of community at group level.
We implemented a custom design that aligns with that brand identity and values, without compromising usability or core SharePoint features.
Keeping everything secure
The security requirements were strict: restrict access to sensitive data and intellectual property across each operating company, without losing an open, usable search experience.
Using a strict set of permissions and applying security trimming to search, the intranet ensures only the right people see the right content, while keeping the overall experience simple.
Custom web parts for communications and operations
To meet highly specific needs across the operating companies, we designed and built custom web parts focused on clear communications and better processes.
These include an announcement web part for updates and notices across the campus, and a racing-event web part with a countdown clock to generate excitement around the next race.
Searching for spare parts
The engineering side of the business has an enormous catalogue of small parts. Users need to look up information regularly, but the data lives in a separate system.
We built a parts finder web part integrated with the client's parts database. Employees can search for parts information from the intranet homepage, which saves time and helps drive adoption.
Increasing efficiency and supporting operations
To further increase efficiency, we implemented a custom web part that assigns a task list to certain roles, such as engineers, visible from the homepage.
We also used Lightspeed365 components that sit alongside native SharePoint web parts: How Do I information to support operational know-how, and People Finder so people can connect across the group.
A unique personalised experience
With a diverse workforce across different operating companies, the intranet uses personalisation and audience targeting so each person sees a relevant experience.
Users find news and updates based on their profile, refined with content recommendations from what they actually visit. The Lightspeed365 App Launcher gives personalised, easy access to the tools they use every day.
What was delivered
A unified, branded SharePoint intranet powered by Lightspeed365:
- One intranet for three operating companies on a single campus, so employees get a group-level experience without losing what each company needs.
- Custom branding that matches a distinctive motorsport identity, on standard SharePoint pages.
- Permission-trimmed search so sensitive IP stays inside the right company.
- Custom web parts for campus announcements, race countdown, parts finder, and role-based task lists.
- Lightspeed365 How Do I, People Finder, App Launcher, and audience targeting, so the everyday intranet features sit next to the custom ones.
Lightspeed365 extends what SharePoint Online already does well. The platform underneath stays standard Microsoft 365.
Still weighing up SharePoint intranet solutions?
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Why it mattered
The new intranet has been well received. It delivers group-level support information and campus updates, while still supporting the unique needs of each operating company.
It is also proving to be a springboard for stronger employee engagement: a compelling platform for digital communications that strengthens connection with the group brand and across the separate operating companies.
If a similar split across brands, sites, or operating companies sounds familiar, it is worth seeing what other organisations have built with the platform. Browse more SharePoint intranet examples.
Read more Lightspeed365 case studies to see how other organisations have transformed their SharePoint intranet.