The House Mill Trust
Giving a heritage charity the technology foundation to focus on what matters most
🏢 Industry
Charity / Heritage
👥 Company size
Small, trustee and volunteer-led
📍 Location
London
⚙️ Services Provided
Advisory & Consulting
Cyber Security & Resilience
Cloud & Modern Workplace
Managed IT Services & IT Support
The Challenge
House Mill Trust is the charity behind one of London’s most remarkable surviving industrial heritage sites, dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the House Mill on the River Lea. Like many small charities, the organisation runs lean, relying on a committed group of trustees, staff and volunteers to keep everything moving.
But behind the scenes, technology was creating friction rather than enabling the mission. There was no coherent IT strategy, no single approach to systems or data, and trustees were working in silos, collaborating inefficiently across a fragmented mix of platforms. Data was scattered across Dropbox, Google Drive and other legacy tools with no clear ownership or structure. Cyber security had not been adequately addressed, leaving the charity exposed and without the controls needed to meet the expectations of funders, regulators and stakeholders.
With limited internal resource and no dedicated IT leadership, the Trust needed expert guidance to make sense of the landscape and build something they could rely on long term.
The Solution
We began with a full technology strategy and target operating model, designed specifically around the realities of a trustee-led charity, practical, cost-effective and built for the long term. The centrepiece was a comprehensive migration to a cloud-first architecture built on Microsoft 365.
Email, identity and device management were modernised from the ground up, including the deployment of Microsoft Entra Conditional Access policies to secure user identities, and Intune MDM to bring device management in line with best practice. Fragmented data across Dropbox, Google Drive and other legacy sources was consolidated and migrated into a unified SharePoint Online and OneDrive environment, giving trustees, staff and volunteers a single place to collaborate and access what they need.
We supported the charity through the process of achieving Cyber Essentials certification, putting the controls, policies and documentation in place to meet the standard and demonstrate a credible security posture to funders and partners. Domain, hosting and the charity’s website were also brought under our management, with ongoing enhancements made as needed.
Following the initial transformation, we continue to support Housemill Trust with managed services and in a Fractional CIO capacity, providing strategic guidance and BAU IT support without the cost of a full-time IT function.
Key deliverables:
- Full Microsoft 365 cloud migration including Exchange Online, SharePoint and OneDrive
- Microsoft Entra Conditional Access and Intune MDM deployment
- Data consolidation from Dropbox, Google Drive and legacy sources into SharePoint Online
- Cyber Essentials certification support and attainment
- Managed Cloud Backup, Endpoint Security, AV and Infrastructure management
- Domain, hosting and website management
- IT Strategy, Roadmapping and digital transformation advisory
- Ongoing Fractional CIO engagement and managed services
The Results
House Mill Trust now operates with the kind of technology foundation more commonly associated with organisations many times its size, secure, well-governed and built to support the way trustees, staff and volunteers actually work.
A coherent, cloud-first Microsoft 365 environment replacing a fragmented mix of legacy platforms
Trustees and volunteers collaborating through a single, secure SharePoint Online hub – no more silos
Cyber Essentials certification achieved, providing meaningful assurance to funders and stakeholders
Identity and device security significantly strengthened through Entra CA policies and Intune MDM
Managed backup and endpoint security providing ongoing protection without internal overhead
Ongoing Fractional CIO support ensuring the charity always has expert IT guidance on hand
“
Before working with Cloudforce, our technology was holding us back in ways we hadn’t fully appreciated. Trustees were working across different systems, our data wasn’t properly organised and cyber security was something we knew we needed to address but hadn’t. They came in with a clear plan, moved us over to Microsoft 365 and helped us achieve Cyber Essentials, and they’re still with us today, keeping everything running and helping us think ahead. For a charity our size, having that level of expertise available is invaluable.
”
Beverley Charters, Trustee – House Mill Trust
Sound familiar?
If you’re facing similar challenges, we’d love to have a conversation. No jargon, no pressure.
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