A unified system for enterprise-scale website delivery

Balfour Beatty’s digital estate had grown organically over time resulting in a fragmented collection of websites built across legacy platforms, including Umbraco, outdated WordPress implementations and bespoke HTML.

In many cases, these sites were difficult to update, inconsistent in quality and increasingly disconnected from the core brand.

What was needed wasn’t another website. It was a system.

A centralised WordPress website theme design capable of supporting multiple divisions and joint ventures one that could be deployed rapidly, governed consistently and maintained internally without ongoing reliance on development.

At the same time, the solution had to meet AA accessibility standards and hold up at enterprise scale.

Designing for scale, not for site.

Rather than treating each website as a standalone project, we designed a modular framework in the form of a WordPress website theme built as an extensible system.

At its core sits a structured design language: a considered set of components, templates and rules that ensure consistency without rigidity. This allows each part of the business to communicate its offer clearly, while operating within a unified brand expression.

Technically, the build was engineered for repeatability. New sites can be deployed and ready to populate within a day, with a clean, intuitive backend that enables internal teams to structure and manage content without intervention.

We deliberately stripped back reliance on plugins, prioritising performance, security and longevity over short-term convenience.

Accessibility was not layered on but embedded with every component designed and tested against AA standards from the outset.

The outcome is a scalable WordPress website theme framework that replaces ad-hoc development with a controlled, repeatable model.

New websites are no longer built from the ground up. Instead, they are assembled from a defined system. This significantly reduces complexity while ensuring design integrity is maintained across every touchpoint.

The platform gives Balfour Beatty’s teams ownership of their content, without compromising the consistency or quality of the wider brand.

The framework has been adopted across multiple divisions and joint ventures, creating a far more coherent digital presence.

Websites delivered using the system include:

• Painter Brothers
• Balfour Beatty Living Places
• Balvac
• Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering
• Aurora
• Balfour Beatty Investments
• BP Equipment
• Lighting Coventry
• Lighting Cambridgeshire
• Lighting Northamptonshire

Each site draws from the same underlying structure, while allowing for tailored content and messaging. The platform complements other strategic and creative work delivered for Balfour Beatty, helping maintain consistency across digital experiences, stakeholder communications and wider brand activity.

By moving from fragmented builds to a unified platform, Balfour Beatty has fundamentally changed how it delivers digital.

• Websites can be launched in days, not weeks
• Internal teams are able to manage and evolve content independently
• Brand consistency is maintained across a complex organisation
• Accessibility standards are met as a baseline, not an afterthought

More importantly, the business now operates with a system rather than a series of individual solutions enabling scale without loss of control.

The framework was never intended to be static.

While the core system provides a robust foundation, not every future requirement can be anticipated at build stage. As the platform has been adopted across different divisions and joint ventures, each brings its own operational needs, integrations and edge cases.

To support this, we provide a managed hosting environment alongside an ongoing support agreement.

Hosting is designed for reliability, performance and security at scale, ensuring all sites benefit from consistent infrastructure, monitoring and maintenance.

Alongside this, the support model allows for continuous evolution. Smaller development tasks, refinements and enhancements can be delivered as part of an ongoing relationship, without the need for large redevelopment cycles.

This ensures the platform remains current, adaptable and aligned with the needs of the business over time, not just at the point of launch.