Labour Relations Agency – Staff-Facing App | Case Study

The Labour Relations Agency turned to WebCraft NI for a secure, mobile-first hub that could put HR news, policies and alerts into every staff member’s pocket. In just 14 weeks we delivered an Angular + Capacitor app (plus PWA and custom CMS) that slashed information-access time by 88 % and achieved a 93 % install rate within 48 hours.

Labour Relations Agency (LRA) – Staff-Facing Mobile & Web App

Client	Labour Relations Agency (LRA), NI public body
Users	≈ 120 employees (all issued iPhone SE)
Deliverables	iOS/Capacitor app + PWA, headless CMS, admin portal
Timeline	14 weeks (discovery → rollout)
Budget	Fixed-price, delivered 100 % on-budget
Services	Full-stack build, security audit, staff training, deployment, ongoing SLA

Challenge

LRA’s legacy intranet was desktop-only and VPN-bound, leaving field staff without critical updates, HR resources or policies when working remotely.

Mobile-first experience that works offline and on low-bandwidth rural 4 G.
Single sign-on restricted to @lra.org.uk accounts.
Non-technical admins must publish news, policies and push alerts without IT help.
Solution must comply with Civil Service security guidelines (ISO 27001 & NCSC).

Solution

Layer	Key choices	Why
Frontend	Angular 17 + Ionic UI, packaged with CapacitorJS	Native feel on iOS, instant PWA fallback for desktop
Auth	Azure AD ↔ OAuth2 / JWT	Seamless login for `@lra.org.uk` addresses
Backend CMS	NestJS REST API + PostgreSQL	Granular roles, rich-text & file storage
Push & Alerts	APNs + Service Worker for PWA	Real-time notices even when the app is closed
Security	OWASP ASVS audit, CSP headers, device-level PIN enforcement	Passed LRA IT security review first time
DevOps	GitHub Actions → TestFlight / Vercel PWA	Zero-downtime releases, versioned rollbacks

Rollout & Adoption

Train-the-trainer sessions – two 8 hous in-person workshops plus PDF quick-start guide.
Pilot group of 20 power-users for 7 days → collected UX feedback, fixed two minor UI bugs.
Agency-wide launch – TestFlight link emailed + QR posters in offices; 93 % install rate in first 48 h.
Managed updates – monthly sprint cycle; content admins publish in under 5 minutes via the new CMS.

Impact (first 90 days)

KPI	Old intranet	New app	Δ
Avg. time-to-read “Staff News” post	36 h	3 h	88 % faster
HR policy downloads	54 / month	212 / month	+293 %
“Can’t find document” tickets	22 / month	2 / month	−90 %
Staff satisfaction (pulse survey)	3.1 / 5	4.6 / 5	+48 %

Source: LRA internal analytics & survey, Apr 2025.

WebCraftNI Contribution

Green-field build – design, architecture & coding (Angular + Capacitor).
Custom CMS – bespoke admin portal with WYSIWYG editor & media manager.
Security consultation – threat-modelling, pen-test remediation, MDM guidance.
Staff enablement – live workshops, video tutorials, PDF playbooks.
End-to-end deployment – TestFlight, App Store Private listing, PWA hosting.
Ongoing SLA – 24 h bug-fix, monthly feature drops, analytics reporting.
Governance – delivered on-time & on-budget; all milestones signed-off by LRA steering group.

What LRA Said

“The new app has transformed how quickly we reach our people. WebCraftNI nailed both the tech and the hand-holding—zero friction from day one.”
— IT & Digital Lead, Labour Relations Agency

Key Take-aways

Angular + Capacitor delivers an iOS-grade experience and a PWA without duplicate code.
Early security alignment (OAuth2, OWASP) avoids public-sector procurement delays.
Pilot cohort + staff training drives >90 % adoption in the first week.

Need a Secure Staff App?

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