Introduction
The Bedford Estates’ land holdings in Bloomsbury have been owned by successive Dukes of Bedford, who have played their part in creating the Bloomsbury we see today. The Woburn Estate is the home of the 15th Duke and Duchess of Bedford, who continue to balance its deep heritage with modern operational needs. As part of this commitment, Woburn Estates sought to modernise its HR record‑keeping processes.
The Woburn Estate encompasses Woburn Abbey and Gardens, Woburn Safari Park, and Woburn Golf Club. With thousands of employee documents stored across multiple filing cabinets, the Estates required a secure, compliant and highly organised digitisation partner. Key Digital was engaged to deliver a structured, standards‑based solution that would preserve the integrity of the records while enabling efficient digital access.
Situation
Woburn Estates’ HR documentation was stored in nine filing cabinets:
- Seven cabinets containing current employee files
- One cabinet for the current year’s leavers
- One cabinet for the previous year’s leavers
The current employee files were organised into eight clearly defined sections, a structure that needed to be replicated precisely in the digital output. Leaver files, however, could be scanned as single OCR‑enabled PDFs.
The estimated volume totalled approximately 90,000 images, equivalent to around 36 archive boxes. In addition, a further archive – pending review – was identified as a potential Phase 2 project, dependent on decisions around retention or destruction.
The Estates required:
- Secure collection and transport of physical files
- High‑quality mono and colour scanning
- Full OCR for text‑searchable PDFs
- Indexing by forename, surname, date of birth, or unique reference number
- Compliance with BS 10008 standards
- Secure destruction of originals after 60 days
Solution
Key Digital designed a comprehensive, end‑to‑end digitisation workflow tailored to the Estates’ organisational structure and compliance requirements.
Key elements of the solution
- Secure collection and handling
Files were packed and collected directly from Woburn, transported to Key Digital’s secure facility, and logged into a controlled workflow. - Document preparation
Staples, paperclips, Post‑it notes, and other obstructions were removed to ensure clean, consistent scanning. - Structured scanning process
- Mono and colour scanning applied as appropriate
- Automatic blank‑page detection to reduce unnecessary scans
- OCR applied to all documents for full text searchability
- Output structured to mirror the eight‑section format for current employees
- Leaver files consolidated into single searchable PDFs
- Quality assurance
A test sample was produced for review before full production began, ensuring accuracy and alignment with the Estates’ expectations. - Compliance and security
All processes adhered to BS 10008, ensuring evidential weight and legal admissibility of digital records. With approval, physical documents were scheduled for secure destruction after 60 days.
Outcome
Once the digitised files were delivered, the Woburn Estates team reviewed the full dataset and confirmed that the structure, clarity and searchability met their requirements. The project was completed successfully, providing the Estates with:
- A fully digitised, searchable HR archive
- Improved accessibility and efficiency for HR operations
- Reduced physical storage requirements
- A secure, compliant digital record set aligned with modern information‑management standards
The Estates now have a scalable digital foundation, with Phase 2 – addressing the wider archive – ready to proceed once internal sorting and retention decisions are finalised.