International Business Brilliance Awards 2025 | Brilliance in Intranet | Brilliance Award Winner: Burger King UK – Initiative: BK Hub

In this edition of Behind the Brilliance, we spotlight Burger King UK, winner of the Brilliance in Intranet Award at the International Brilliance Awards™, recognised for its innovative internal communications platform — BK Hub, developed in partnership with Oak Engage.

Featuring insights from Nick Hollis, Head of Engagement at Burger King UK, this story highlights how BK Hub has redefined communication and collaboration across 300 locations — connecting thousands of employees through a mobile-first, intuitive, and inclusive digital workplace.

Built with a deep understanding of Burger King UK’s frontline workforce, BK Hub has transformed engagement, contributed to a reduction in employee turnover, and empowered every employee to share their voice. With a social, interactive design and features for recognition, onboarding, and collaboration, the platform has become a cornerstone of Burger King UK’s culture — where communication meets community.

1. Winning the Brilliance in Intranet Award is a significant achievement. What does this recognition mean for both Oak Engage and Burger King UK?

To win the brilliance award in a category of excellent finalists is incredible. We know our platform is brilliant because it works so well for us, but to get the recognition externally is the icing on the cake. The old clunky intranets you imagined once upon a time have truly shaken off that reputation with suppliers like Oak leading the way in helping companies like us to achieve our internal comms and engagement goals with such an easy to use platform. To win for brilliance in intranet means a lot, and it’s great to know that we’re a strong benchmark throughout the wider internal comms industry.

BK Hub is growing into something our people can’t live without, and to have such a FOMO mentality is incredible for us. It empowers us to always be thinking of what’s next to keep our colleagues engaged and excited about working here. 

2. BK Hub was designed to address key communication challenges within Burger King UK’s diverse workforce. Can you share the process behind developing and implementing this innovative platform that earned you the Brilliance in Intranet Award?

Almost half of our employees are under the age of 22 and 98% of the workforce is frontline with no access to a work email address or desktop device, so we knew that a mobile-friendly app version of the final product was crucial to engage and connect them.

Throughout the implementation process, our small internal comms team was supported every step of the way by the Oak Engage team. Internally, we provided training for staff who will be posting regularly on BK Hub, with larger-scale training for Head Office departments to manage their own content and pages.

Our annual internal ‘WhopperCon’ employee event is held each March. We used this event to promote the new intranet, where we had colleagues in one space and could demonstrate everything it has to offer. We created a teaser video to present the features and benefits of the platform and how it could help them in their day-to-day roles. We started the project in January and we achieved full implementation in just two months, including design, build, transferring all membership data and project launch. 

3. How did the collaboration between Oak Engage and Burger King UK ensure that the platform was tailored to meet the specific needs of the restaurant team, especially considering their offline and mobile-first needs?

Oak Engage’s platform was tailored to meet our specific needs and provides a range of functionalities including content sharing, employee recognition, social timeline, advanced search and a document library. We knew the branded mobile app would be key in engaging our deskless workforce, but it also needed to look fun, enticing and reflect our branding.

The support from the Oak team throughout the entire process was second to none. They really understood the brief from the moment we got started. In fact, before we even signed the contract, they had created designs for what it would look like. They hit the nail on the head with the branding, style and general vibe we wanted to get with the app.

Oak Engage has vast experience in this field so we were open to many of their suggestions about how to maximise the effectiveness of the app for our people while making it user-friendly and visually appealing. They created a mobile view of our intranet which is intuitive to what our deskless workforce needs in a few clicks, without overloading it with as much content as the desktop version to avoid information overload.

4. What impact has the user-friendly design of BK Hub had on employee engagement, and how has it improved communication across Burger King UK’s 300 locations?

Since launching BK Hub, we have seen a reduction in restaurant staff turnover, improved productivity, enhanced efficiency and completely transformed how we work as a business. 

We’ve been surprised by the huge difference that a modern, intuitive and simple to use intranet and employee app has had on our teams. We can now easily  connect with our offline workforce across the country, showing them the bigger picture of our business whilst making each person feel appreciated, seen and heard. 

Employee-generated content has skyrocketed. We are so glad that our people are engaged with the platform and willing to share their stories and experiences, from the small successes in their restaurants to fundraising activity and more. We really do see it all. It’s so motivating and makes us so happy to see our people thriving.

By creating community spaces within BK Hub, our people really do have a place to socialise with like-minded colleagues all over the UK, even if they’ve never met before. Shared interests and hobbies can connect people in all kinds of ways and we have provided a safe space for them to communicate, which we believe has improved morale and a sense of belonging at work.

5. With the integration of personalised content delivery, how has BK Hub helped Burger King UK overcome the challenge of information overload, especially for employees with varying levels of accessibility?

Being able to tailor content delivery has honestly been a game-changer. We can specify which roles, locations and groups receive each communication and with Oak’s analytics we can see who has read these updates, which we previously had no way of measuring. The whole content delivery process makes everything more streamlined and relevant, which our teams really appreciate.

There’s nothing worse than scrolling through updates that have nothing to do with you or your role. When anyone accesses BK Hub, no matter their role or what device they’re on, they know that everything they can see will be of relevance to them. Plus, we can now share information directly to the right people rather than relying on managers to cascade the information, so the responsibility to act lies with the individual, relieving some pressure from busy managers.

6. The success of the onboarding process has seen a significant reduction in turnover and new starter drop-out rates. How did BK Hub contribute to making the onboarding experience more effective and engaging for new employees?

The beauty of BK Hub is that our people don’t need a company email address to access it. This has enabled us to restrict access to specific areas of the platform for those who have just accepted a job offer, and we can simply share details of how to download and access the app.

We have created dedicated homepages for new recruits and new starters so that they can see information about the company, our benefits, what to expect in their first few weeks and any documentation they need to share with us before their first day.  There is also a space to contact line managers in advance with any questions they may have. We believe that this ongoing communication from job offer to day one is what has significantly reduced our new starter drop-out rate.

Once the new starter joins on day one and throughout their first few weeks, they are opened up to slightly more of BK Hub which highlights processes, policies and everything they need to learn about in order to safely do their job. We stagger the amount of content that is revealed over the first few weeks to avoid information overwhelm and to familiarise them with where to go in the platform to find what they need. After this, they are granted complete access to BK Hub so they can see everything that’s going on and explore all areas of the site that their permissions allow.

This well-structured preboarding and onboarding process has been so engaging because it is still housed within our lovely app. The company culture is drip-fed at every stage, so they remain excited about working at Burger King and all of the benefits that it brings.

7. BK Hub’s social timeline feature allows employees to share achievements and celebrate success. How has this feature contributed to creating a more inclusive and positive work culture?

Giving employees a voice is what makes them feel included and involved in company culture. Providing a platform for them to share whatever they like (within reason, of course) with other colleagues brings a social media feel to our platform. The more that people post, the more others will be inclined to share their own posts and engage with others.

With BK Hub, whether it’s a photo from restaurant staff or an update from head office, anyone can comment and react to the update, have their say, congratulate or celebrate whatever the update is. Breaking down barriers between colleagues and giving them this platform has not only brought our colleagues together socially, but it’s given us at head office so much more visibility of the incredible things our people do every day. We continue to encourage this and believe it plays a huge part in people’s enjoyment of working at Burger King.

8. What role does employee recognition play within the platform, and how has this impacted overall employee morale and collaboration within Burger King UK?

Public appreciation for team members creates a positive, collaborative environment, strengthening relationships and boosting morale. The fact that it’s so quick and easy to do gives people every reason to show appreciation for each other. From thanking colleagues for getting through a particularly busy shift, congratulating them for trying something new or celebrating promotions and general jobs well done, the amount of recognition which feeds through our homepage is incredible. We can see that people genuinely mean it when they share appreciation for others.

9. What does ‘brilliance’ mean to you in the context of an intranet platform, and how does BK Hub exemplify this in its design and functionality to win the Brilliance in Intranet Award?

To me, ‘brilliance’ is the balance of exceptional user experience and intuitive functionality that allows us to achieve our communications objectives and that our people enjoy using.

BK Hub exemplifies brilliance in how it is so easy to use from both an administrative and user perspective. Navigation is clear and opportunities to connect are woven throughout the whole platform. Oak’s content and recognition applets enable us to provide a seamless user experience that is modern, clean and on brand. This entire experience is what makes our people keep coming back to the platform. They love how it works, they love what’s on there and they love being part of the conversation.

10. Looking at the success metrics, such as 97% monthly engagement and 98% of employees onboarded in a short time, how do you measure the ongoing impact of BK Hub on employee satisfaction and business performance?

Thanks to Oak Engage’s monthly report which lands with AI-generated insights and recommendations, we are able to find specific areas to focus on improving each month. We can see which content types are performing best and resonating most with our people, which informs how we frame content for upcoming campaigns and communications. There’s no need to compile the report ourselves, it gets delivered straight to the hub which we can easily share with our leadership team. 

Our people tend to scroll through updates on the BK Hub timeline just as they would across other social platforms and the variety of content we have on here is what keeps people coming back. The more that our people absorb from BK Hub, the more they are engaged and informed on what’s new with the business, which positively impacts our overall performance.

Celebrating Brilliance

Burger King UK’s BK Hub has transformed the way people connect, communicate, and feel part of something bigger. By bringing together over 300 restaurant teams and head office staff into one shared space, the platform has helped build stronger relationships, celebrate achievements, and create a genuine sense of community.

This award recognises a company that listens to its people and gives them the tools to engage, support one another, and grow together. The success of BK Hub shows what can happen when technology is used with purpose — to bring people closer, strengthen culture, and make every employee feel valued and proud to be part of the journey.