Case study

Easier to use. Easier to run.

Greater Manchester Pension Fund's website had to move before its old platform ran out of support. We rebuilt it on HubSpot Content Hub, with a custom React theme, accessibility designed in, and an employer sign-in that keeps existing passwords.

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A retired couple at a kitchen table reviewing pension information on a tablet

1,200+employer and governance accounts keep their passwords. No mass reset.

At a glance

Client
Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF)
Sector
Local Government Pension Scheme
What we did
Audit, UX and design, HubSpot CMS theme, employer sign-in, accessibility
Platform
HubSpot Content Hub Enterprise
Years
2025 to today

The challenge

Function over form.

GMPF's website is a service, not a sales tool. Members should find what they need and get on with their day, without phoning the contact centre.

Before

A cluttered site on a deadline

50page templates, approximately, on the old site

  • Navigation crowded with links
  • Contact forms in several confusing places
  • Slower on phones, though just over half of visits came from one
  • A platform reaching the end of its support
  • Employer passwords that HubSpot could not import
  • A rate this page form that drew unrelated comments and bot submissions

After

One modular theme on HubSpot

20reusable components, each a HubSpot module

  • A colour for each audience: Members, Employers, Governance and About
  • Every component tested at five screen widths, from large desktop to phone
  • Checked against WCAG 2.2 AA before sign-off
  • Employers sign in with Microsoft Entra and keep their passwords
  • Employer admins manage their own users
  • Rate this page with three faces, stored for each page in HubSpot

The audit

Evidence before design.

We started in 2025 with an audit of user experience, search, accessibility and analytics, and a comparison of three platforms. GMPF's content team tried HubSpot hands-on, then chose it.

  • 52%of visits came from a phone
  • 1.5%of traffic reached the About section, despite a link from the home page
  • 3platforms scored. HubSpot led on ease of use and CRM, at the lowest cost of ownership

Discover Digital audit of GMPF's website and platform comparison, 2025. Device mix from GMPF's website requirements.

Employer sign-in

Same password. New sign-in.

HubSpot cannot import the old platform's passwords. So instead of sending more than 1,200 employer and governance users a reset, each account moves across the first time its owner signs in.

  1. First sign-in

    Employer or governance user

    • Signs in with their existing password
    • No reset email, no new password to learn

  2. Check

    Microsoft Entra External ID

    • A secure Azure service checks the old password once
    • Entra keeps the password from then on
    • Later sign-ins go straight to Entra

  3. Access

    HubSpot Content Hub

    • Pages gated by access group
    • 866 employer records, keyed by employer code
    • Three roles: view, submit forms, manage users
    • Forms with postcode lookup and spam protection

  4. Admin

    Employer admin dashboard

    • Admins add, edit and remove their own users
    • Lead employers can manage the smaller employers they look after
    • Every change synced to Entra automatically

This sign-in is for employers and governance users. Members keep using My Pension, GMPF's separate member service.

The build

A theme GMPF's team runs itself.

A custom HubSpot CMS theme built with React. Pages are standard HubSpot content that GMPF's team edits directly, and React loads only where a page needs interaction. The header and footer are managed once, and resources and events sit in HubDB tables, so replacing a document updates it everywhere it appears.

Around 150 pages were rebuilt. AI coding tools assembled most of them from the approved components and wireframes, then we checked them by hand against the old site.

  • Every component checked against WCAG 2.2 AA, with automated tests, keyboard use and reduced motion
  • Shaw Trust involved from the design stage, and assessed the site in August 2026
  • Tested at 1920, 1440, 1024, 768 and 393 pixels wide
  • Launch waits until GMPF's team has reviewed the content page by page
A pensions team reviewing content together at a desk in a city office

The build in numbers.

  • 5screen widths every component was tested at
  • 150pages rebuilt, approximately, and checked by hand
  • 866employer records remodelled around GMPF's employer codes
  • 1,073of 1,078 employer contacts matched to their employer

Discover Digital project records, 2025 to 2026. Employer figures from the September 2026 migration; they are refreshed at launch.

How it unfolded

Evidence, design, build, review.

From the first audit in 2025 to final testing in 2026. GMPF's own content review is the last gate before launch.

  1. Jun 2025, done

    Audit and platform choice

    An audit of the old site and a comparison of three platforms. GMPF's content team tried HubSpot and chose it.

  2. Oct 2025, done

    Persona workshop

    The main member journeys tested against personas before any page was drawn.

  3. Apr 2026, done

    Wireframes approved

    Four batches: members, employers, information pages and governance. The React theme was chosen the same month.

  4. Jun 2026, done

    Design approved

    The final design gives each audience its own colour: Members, Employers, Governance and About.

  5. Jul 2026, done

    Testing and training

    User acceptance testing opens, and GMPF's editors are trained in HubSpot.

  6. Aug to Sep 2026, done

    Accessibility and employers

    Shaw Trust assesses the site. Employer data is remodelled around GMPF's employer codes.

  7. Now, happening now

    GMPF's content review

    GMPF's team checks the pages in order of traffic. Launch waits until they are satisfied.

  8. Next, next

    Launch and support

    The switch to the new site, then ongoing support. On the list: better site search and a guide for members planning retirement.

What it changes

Better for everyone who uses it.

  • Members

    A site organised around what members are trying to do, with clearer navigation and the same layouts on any device.

  • Employers

    A modern sign-in that keeps their password, control over their own users, and forms that work the way they did before.

  • GMPF's team

    A modular site they edit themselves, with page ratings reported by address, so they can see which pages help members and which need work.

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Email
hello@discoverdigital.com
Phone
+44 (0)118 974 4736
WhatsApp
+44 118 974 4736
Office
Reading, UK
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