How Marlowe Fire & Security Group modernized the employee feedback journey

Meet Marlowe Fire & Security Group

Marlowe Fire & Security Group is a leading provider of fire safety and security solutions across the UK. With over 1,150 employees — the majority of whom are engineers and technicians on the road — Marlowe’s workforce is geographically dispersed and primarily frontline.

From installing high-tech CCTV and facial recognition systems to maintaining fire alarms and access controls, their people are critical to public safety and compliance.

But with teams rarely setting foot in a corporate Marlowe office, it’s always been difficult to create a strong connection between the business and their field staff.

The challenge: Uncovering experience gaps

Marlowe’s field teams operate largely independently — traveling across the country, often with limited contact with colleagues or HQ. “They’re out in vans, not in offices,” explained Sam Higginson, Group HR Projects Manager. “That physical separation can lead to a disconnect between the administrative teams and our field staff — and we don’t want that.”

To build trust and transparency, the company needed more than just a better comms channel — they needed a cultural shift.

Before Blink, internal communication was largely email-based. Frontline teams received dozens of emails daily so updates were easy to miss. Recognition felt top-down, and organic interaction between departments was minimal. And while leadership had invested in employee engagement surveys to try to explore the root cause of the issue and gauge improvement, the organization had struggled to inspire decisive action.

“We knew we wanted to explore other options for the survey, when we saw the service that Blink was offering, on a platform that our teams are familiar with, it was a clear choice.”
_{Sam Higginson - Group HR Projects Manager at Marlowe Fire & Security}

Why Blink: An all-in-one survey partner

Marlowe — a Blink customer since 2020 — was already using the platform for core communications, building momentum around company updates, service commendations, and acquisition announcements.

But the HR team saw the opportunity to go deeper — especially when it came to surveys.

With Blink, they could:

• Use a platform their employees already knew and trusted
• Customize surveys by employment group
• Automate nudges and reduce admin load
• Access clean, easy-to-read dashboards
• Deliver personalized reports for each of their 150+ line managers
• Cut survey costs in half compared to their previous vendor

“Everything we got out of the last platform — and more,” said Sam. “Plus, the whole thing just ran smoother. No more data-wrangling. No more logins to another platform.”

Unlocked: A better feedback loop

92.5% survey participation — with zero email fatigue

The team ran their Blink-powered survey over three weeks, sending out automated reminders via the app — no inbox overload required. The result? An impressive 92.5% participation rate, a clear signal that the frontline was not only reachable — they were eager to be heard.

“There’s a big difference between getting an email every few weeks and getting a quick ping on your phone as a reminder to complete the survey,” Sam shared. “It led to people actually going in and filling it out.”

Data that drives real change

This time, people wanted to act on the results. Line managers asked for their team’s feedback. Employees were curious about the data — and the company put that curiosity to work.

Action plans became part of performance reviews. Departments that failed to follow up stood out clearly. And using Blink’s dashboards, the HR team uncovered a deeper challenge: a breakdown in communication at the line manager level.

“Comms from the top were working fine,” said Sam. “But our survey showed it wasn’t filtering down. Some managers weren’t doing regular 1:1s. Departmental goals weren’t being shared. We finally had proof — and a reason to fix it.”

A new approach to recognition and culture

Marlowe continues to use Blink’s Feed and Stories features to share commendations, celebrate anniversaries, and drive engagement. While building organic cross-team culture is still a work in progress, the team now has the insights and infrastructure to get there.

Looking ahead: Creating a connected culture

With Blink, Marlowe Fire & Security Group is not only reaching their frontline — they’re listening to these workers, learning from them, and driving meaningful change. The team is now embedding insights from surveys into performance processes, building a more transparent recognition culture, and working to improve communication from every level of the business.

“Now we can prove where the problems are. We’re not asking our people leaders to change for no reason — the data backs it up.”
_{Sam Higginson - Group HR Projects Manager at Marlowe Fire & Security}