Employee Intranet Development Cost in the UK (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

In 2026, a bespoke intranet in the UK with SSO and role-based access runs GBP 35,000-95,000, delivered in 12 to 18 weeks. Microsoft 365 / SharePoint is unbeatable on entry cost but imposes its own document logic and charges for every portal extension. The tipping point is adoption: an intranet genuinely used by 300 staff that saves 20 % of time on internal processes pays back a GBP 55,000 build in under a year.

SharePoint / Microsoft 365 or a bespoke intranet: the 2026 numbers

The real debate isn't licence price but adoption. An underused SharePoint intranet is cheaper to buy but returns nothing; an adopted bespoke portal creates a company asset.

What a 35,000-95,000 GBP build covers

Scope drives price. A 2026 order-of-magnitude breakdown for a single-site intranet of 300 staff.

Annual maintenance runs 15 to 20 % of the build: on 55,000 GBP, budget 8,250 to 11,000 GBP/year for fixes, security and enhancements. That is the cost of owning an asset you control, versus dependence on Microsoft's roadmap.

Mini case study

Sarah, HR director of a 300-person services company in London, finds staff lose an average of 25 minutes a day hunting for scattered documents, HR notes and procedures. She invests GBP 58,000 in a bespoke intranet with SSO and federated search, plus 9,500 GBP/year maintenance. A 20 % cut in that lost time — 5 minutes reclaimed per person per day — equals 300 × 5 min × 220 days = 5,500 hours/year; at an average loaded cost of 32 GBP/h, that is 176,000 GBP/year of regained capacity. Even crediting just 25 % of that gain as real, the build pays for itself in under 10 months.

FAQ

Why not stay on SharePoint since it's already included? SharePoint remains fine for pure document storage. Bespoke makes sense when adoption stalls: a UX designed for your usage and workflows built around your organisation often make the difference between a dead intranet and a living one.

Does SSO complicate the project? No, it's a standard. Integrating Entra ID (Azure AD) or Okta via OpenID Connect takes 2 to 3 weeks. It removes an extra password and secures access by role.

Realistic timeline for 300 staff? Budget 12 to 18 weeks for a first usable scope, with a phased rollout by department rather than a big-bang. A pilot on one department reduces adoption risk.

Where is data hosted? In UK or EU data centres (Azure UK South, OVH, AWS eu-west) with encryption at rest and access logging, compliant with UK GDPR. A processing register and DPA are provided.

Can we start small? Yes. Many organisations first launch directory + news + SSO at 20,000-30,000 GBP, measure adoption, then add internal requests. That's the approach we recommend to keep the budget under control.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your headcount, identity provider (Entra ID, Okta) and target scope for an indicative budget between 35,000 and 95,000 GBP. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.