Last Updated on October 23, 2026
Big Yellow and Safestore score highest of the ten UK removals and self storage brands compared, level at 6.3 out of 10 on the Whito leaderboard.
Opinion and analysis. Whito read every brand below by hand on 22 October 2026, using publicly visible activity only, against fixed anchors and ten UK searches. Each channel is scored 0 to 10, set out under How we scored, so a score describes what we could see on the day, not the quality of the move or the storage. Brands cannot pay to appear or to change a score. Where a figure is not published, we say so.
Moving house is a once-every-few-years purchase, so most removals firms assume marketing is about the quote. On this board the storage brands score higher, because every one of them lets you reserve or rent online, while only AnyVan among the removals firms gives a price without a survey.
Big Yellow and Safestore lead level on 6.3, ahead of AnyVan on 6.1. Safestore ran about 3,000 Google ads and 12 Meta ads; Big Yellow ran about 2,000 Google ads but no Meta ads. The traditional removers win search instead: Britannia Movers and White & Company each appeared in 4 of 10 UK searches, mostly through a page for each city.
Pickfords and White & Company share the lowest score, 4.7. Pickfords holds the best reviews score on the board, 10, from 4.8 on 13,027 Trustpilot reviews, but shows no price and appeared in none of 10 UK searches. Eight of the ten capture no email at all.
The leaderboard
| Rank | Brand | Social | Website | SEO | Paid | Reviews | Brand | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Yellow | 6 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6.3 |
| 1 | Safestore | 6 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 6.3 |
| 3 | AnyVan | 6 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 6.1 |
| 4 | Shurgard | 6 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 5.9 |
| 4 | Storage King | 4 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 5.9 |
| 6 | Access Self Storage | 6 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 5.7 |
| 7 | Bishop’s Move | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5.6 |
| 8 | Britannia Movers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 5.3 |
| 9 | Pickfords | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 4.7 |
| 9 | White & Company | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 4.7 |
Average is the simple mean of the seven channel scores, rounded to one decimal place. Brands on the same average share a rank and are listed A to Z. All ten brands read 22 October 2026. Meta Ad Library counts were read on 23 October 2026, after the library was unavailable on 22 October.
Company verdicts
Big Yellow, 6.3
Big Yellow scores 6.3, level highest with Safestore. Paid stays at 6: about 2,000 Google ads but no active Meta ads from its Big Yellow Self Storage page. Brand scores 6, the best here, for one name, a clear line, ‘The UK’s Favourite Self Storage Company’, and the yellow name and buildings it has used for 25 years. Its website scores 10 for online reservation with clear pricing. Reviews score 7 from 4.8 on 5,822 Trustpilot reviews, held back by no replies on the latest 20. SEO scores 5: bigyellow.co.uk appeared for ‘self storage near me UK’, and storage guides add a point. Email scores 4 for a My Account login.
Safestore, 6.3
Safestore scores 6.3, level highest with Big Yellow, with paid at 10 for about 3,000 Google ads and 12 Meta ads. Reviews score 9 from 4.6 on 12,044 Trustpilot reviews, with replies to 14 of the latest 20. Its website scores 10 for online booking with a £1 first month offer. SEO scores 5: safestore.co.uk appeared for ‘self storage cost UK’, with its own prices page, and ‘self storage near me UK’, and a blog adds a point. Brand scores 4 for the line ‘The UK’s largest self storage company’. Email scores 0, with no sign-up seen.
AnyVan, 6.1
AnyVan scores 6.1, third on the board. Its website scores 10 for instant online prices, with recent move prices such as £33 and £565 on the homepage. Reviews score 7 from 4.6 on 207,887 Trustpilot reviews, by far the most on the board, held back by no replies on the latest 20. Brand scores 4 for one name and the line ‘Move Anything Anywhere’. Paid scores 10 with about 5,000 Google ads, the most here, and at least 40 Meta ads. SEO scores 2: anyvan.com appeared in none of 10 UK searches.
Shurgard, 5.9
Shurgard scores 5.9, level with Storage King. Its website scores 10 for renting online, with prices from £1 for the first month. Reviews score 8 from 4.7 on 33,385 Trustpilot reviews, though that profile covers all its countries and none of the latest 20 has a reply. Paid scores 10 with about 1,000 Google ads and 24 Meta ads. Email scores 0, and shurgard.com appeared in none of 10 UK searches.
Storage King, 5.9
Storage King scores 5.9, level with Shurgard, with paid at 10 for about 600 Google ads and 59 Meta ads. Reviews score 9 from 4.7 on 3,903 Trustpilot reviews, with replies to all of the latest 20. Its website scores 10 for online reservation. storageking.co.uk appeared for ‘self storage cost UK’, so SEO scores 4. Brand scores 4 for the line ‘Self storage made simple’. Email scores 0.
Access Self Storage, 5.7
Access Self Storage scores 5.7. Reviews score 9 from 4.7 on 5,983 Trustpilot reviews, with replies to all of the latest 20. Its website scores 10 for an instant quote and renting online. Paid scores 10 with about 700 Google ads and at least 33 Meta ads. Brand scores 2: the homepage leads with price offers rather than a positioning line. Email scores 0, and accessstorage.com appeared in none of 10 UK searches.
Bishop’s Move, 5.6
Bishop’s Move scores 5.6, with paid at 8 for 16 Google ads and 2 Meta ads. SEO scores 7, level highest: bishopsmove.com appeared in 3 of 10 UK searches, including ‘house removals UK’ and its London and Bristol pages, and moving advice adds a point. Reviews score 8 from 4.6 on 1,042 Trustpilot reviews, with replies to all of the latest 20. Its website scores 6 for a page per service and video surveys, with no prices. Email scores 0.
Britannia Movers, 5.3
Britannia Movers scores 5.3. Paid stays at 6: about 300 Google ads and no Meta ads found. SEO scores 7, level highest: its branch pages appeared for Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol, 4 of 10 UK searches, and moving guides add a point. Reviews score 8 from 4.6 on 1,136 Trustpilot reviews, with replies to 19 of the latest 20. Its website scores 6 for a quote request and 40+ branch pages, with no prices. Email scores 0.
Pickfords, 4.7
Pickfords scores 4.7, level with White & Company. Reviews score 10, the only top reviews score here, from 4.8 on 13,027 Trustpilot reviews with replies to 12 of the latest 20. Social scores 6 for five platforms. The rest is thin: its website scores 6 for a quote request with no price shown, email 0, brand 2, and pickfords.co.uk appeared in none of 10 UK searches.
White & Company, 4.7
White & Company scores 4.7, level with Pickfords. Reviews score 9 from 4.8 on 3,072 Trustpilot reviews, with replies to 18 of the latest 20. SEO scores 6: whiteandcompany.co.uk appeared in 4 of 10 UK searches, including a cost page for ‘house removal cost UK’ and its Manchester and Bristol pages. No Google ads were found, so paid scores 2, and email scores 0.
What the channels show
Review volume is the whole game
AnyVan holds 207,887 Trustpilot reviews, Shurgard 33,385 on a profile covering every country, Pickfords 13,027 and Safestore 12,044. Eight of the ten score 8 or more on reviews. The reply habit splits them: Bishop’s Move, Access Self Storage and Storage King answer all of their latest 20, AnyVan, Big Yellow and Shurgard answer none.
Instant pricing wins the click
Every storage brand here lets you reserve or rent online and scores 10 for website. Among the removals firms, only AnyVan gives a price online. Pickfords, Britannia Movers, Bishop’s Move and White & Company all ask for a quote or a survey first.
Local pages are the removals channel
Britannia Movers appeared for four cities with a page for each branch, and Bishop’s Move and White & Company with city pages too. Directories such as Bark and Find My Man and Van filled most other places. The storage brands appeared only for the two storage searches.
A building can be a marketing channel
Big Yellow earns the only brand score of 6, for a name and colour it has used on its buildings for 25 years. A storage site on a main road is a billboard nobody pays for each month.
Key lessons for any local removals or storage firm
Build review volume like it is revenue
Eight of the ten score 8 or more on reviews. Ask after every move, and reply to every review, as Bishop’s Move and Storage King do on all of their latest 20.
Give a price before the phone call
AnyVan shows real move prices on its homepage. A removals firm that publishes a price range for a one-bed and a three-bed move answers the first question every customer has.
Your van is your best advert
Big Yellow’s buildings do the work of a billboard. A clean, branded van with your phone number and web address is the removals version.
Own your patch on the map
Britannia Movers appeared for four cities with branch pages. One page for each town you serve, with your address and a quote link, is how a local firm competes with the directories.
Swap the newsletter for a moving checklist
Eight of the ten capture no email at all. A free moving checklist in exchange for an email reaches people weeks before they choose a remover.
Steal this playbook
Five moves from this leaderboard, ranked by return on effort.
- Reply to your latest 20 reviews. Three of the ten answer all 20; AnyVan, Big Yellow and Shurgard answer none.
- Publish a price range. Only AnyVan among the removals firms shows a price online.
- Write one page per town you serve. Britannia Movers appeared for four cities that way.
- Offer a moving checklist for an email. Eight of the ten capture no email.
- Write the cost page. White & Company appeared for ‘house removal cost UK’ with a plain guide to what a move costs.
The evidence behind the scores
One line per channel, as read on the date shown for each brand. Review figures change daily; these are the numbers on the day we looked.
Big Yellow
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn, four platforms in all.
- Website 10: Online reservation, with clear pricing online stated on the site.
- Email 4: A My Account login; no newsletter or app seen.
- SEO 5: 1 of 10 UK web searches returned bigyellow.co.uk in the top ten (‘self storage near me UK’), plus credit for storage guides and a blog.
- Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain bigyellow.co.uk: about 2,000 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads from the Big Yellow Self Storage page.
- Reviews 7: Trustpilot 4.8 from 5,822 reviews, with no company reply on the latest 20.
- Brand 6: Same name everywhere, a clear positioning line (‘The UK’s Favourite Self Storage Company’) and a distinctive asset used for years, the yellow name and buildings, with 25 years of trading stated on the homepage; no named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Safestore
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram, six platforms in all; recent posting and video not checked.
- Website 10: Online booking and reservation with an offer on the homepage (£1 for the first month or 50% off for up to 8 weeks).
- Email 0: No newsletter, account or app seen on the homepage.
- SEO 5: 2 of 10 UK web searches returned safestore.co.uk in the top ten (‘self storage cost UK’ and ‘self storage near me UK’), plus credit for a blog.
- Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain safestore.co.uk: about 3,000 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads from the Safestore Self Storage page, read 23 October 2026: 12.
- Reviews 9: Trustpilot 4.6 from 12,044 reviews, with a company reply on 14 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘The UK’s largest self storage company’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
AnyVan
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to YouTube, X, LinkedIn and Facebook, four platforms in all.
- Website 10: Instant online prices, with recent move prices shown on the homepage (for example £33, £97 and £565).
- Email 4: A saved-quote lookup by email, which works like a customer account; no newsletter or app seen.
- SEO 2: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned anyvan.com in the top ten; no advice library confirmed from the homepage.
- Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain anyvan.com: about 5,000 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads from the AnyVan page, read 23 October 2026: at least 40.
- Reviews 7: Trustpilot 4.6 from 207,887 reviews, with no company reply on the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Move Anything Anywhere’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Shurgard
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to Facebook, X, YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn, five platforms in all.
- Website 10: Rent online, with prices from £1 for the first month stated on the UK homepage.
- Email 0: No newsletter, account or app seen on the UK homepage.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned shurgard.com in the top ten, plus credit for a blog.
- Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain shurgard.com: about 1,000 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads from the Shurgard Self-Storage page, read 23 October 2026: 24.
- Reviews 8: Trustpilot 4.7 from 33,385 reviews on the shurgard.com profile, which covers all its countries, not only the UK, with no company reply on the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Think of us as an extension of your home’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Storage King
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 4: Links to Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, three platforms in all.
- Website 10: Online reservation and a quote request.
- Email 0: No newsletter, account or app seen.
- SEO 4: 1 of 10 UK web searches returned storageking.co.uk in the top ten (‘self storage cost UK’); its store news section is not an advice library.
- Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain storageking.co.uk: about 600 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads from the Storage King UK page, read 23 October 2026: 59.
- Reviews 9: Trustpilot 4.7 from 3,903 reviews, with a company reply on 20 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Self storage made simple’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Access Self Storage
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X, four platforms in all.
- Website 10: An instant quote and online renting, with a first 8 weeks half price offer.
- Email 0: No newsletter, account or app seen.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned accessstorage.com in the top ten, plus credit for a blog.
- Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain accessstorage.com: about 700 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads from the Access Self Storage page, read 23 October 2026: at least 33.
- Reviews 9: Trustpilot 4.7 from 5,983 reviews, with a company reply on 20 of the latest 20.
- Brand 2: Same name everywhere; no positioning line beyond price offers, long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Bishop’s Move
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn, four platforms in all.
- Website 6: A page per service, a quote request and video surveys; no prices shown.
- Email 0: Quote forms only; no newsletter, account or app seen.
- SEO 7: 3 of 10 UK web searches returned bishopsmove.com in the top ten (‘house removals UK’, ‘removals London’ and ‘removals Bristol’), plus credit for a blog and moving advice.
- Paid 8: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain bishopsmove.com: 16 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads from the Bishop’s Move page, read 23 October 2026: 2.
- Reviews 8: Trustpilot 4.6 from 1,042 reviews, with a company reply on 20 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Your move handled with care’, established in 1854); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Britannia Movers
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to YouTube, X, Facebook and Instagram, four platforms in all.
- Website 6: A quote request and pages for 40+ local branches; no prices shown.
- Email 0: No newsletter, account or app seen.
- SEO 7: 4 of 10 UK web searches returned britannia-movers.co.uk in the top ten (its branch pages for Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol), plus credit for moving guides and a blog.
- Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain britannia-movers.co.uk: about 300 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads found for Britannia Movers.
- Reviews 8: Trustpilot 4.6 from 1,136 reviews, with a company reply on 19 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘UK’s Leading Removals Company’, established in 1982); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Pickfords
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube, five platforms in all.
- Website 6: A page per service and a quote request; the site promises removal costs upfront, but no price was shown on the homepage.
- Email 0: No newsletter, account or app seen.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned pickfords.co.uk in the top ten, plus credit for a blog and moving advice.
- Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain pickfords.co.uk: about 200 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads found for Pickfords.
- Reviews 10: Trustpilot 4.8 from 13,027 reviews, with a company reply on 12 of the latest 20.
- Brand 2: Same name everywhere; no positioning line beyond ‘Removals and storage’, long-running asset or named people confirmed on the homepage, and three recent news mentions not checked.
White & Company
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn, four platforms in all.
- Website 6: A quote request, video surveys and British Association of Removers membership shown; no prices or registration number shown.
- Email 0: No newsletter, account or app seen.
- SEO 6: 4 of 10 UK web searches returned whiteandcompany.co.uk in the top ten (‘house removal cost UK’, ‘house removals UK’, ‘removals Manchester’ and ‘removals Bristol’); no advice library found from the homepage.
- Paid 2: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain whiteandcompany.co.uk: no ads found. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads found for White & Company.
- Reviews 9: Trustpilot 4.8 from 3,072 reviews, with a company reply on 18 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Your Trusted Removals Experts’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
How we scored
Who is on the board. Ten UK removals and self storage brands a household is likely to meet when moving home or looking for storage: AnyVan (online marketplace for removals and deliveries), Pickfords (long-established national removals company), Britannia Movers (network of 40+ removals branches, established 1982), Bishop’s Move (removals and storage company established 1854), White & Company (national removals and storage company), Safestore (the largest UK self storage company by its own description), Big Yellow (national self storage company), Shurgard (European self storage company with UK stores), Access Self Storage (UK self storage company with 56 stores) and Storage King (UK self storage network). Chosen for relevance and size, not marketing strength.
When we looked. All ten brands were read on 22 October 2026, against the fixed anchors below, with the ten searches run on the same day. This board was first published with scores relative to the other brands on it. On 22 October 2026 it was rescored on Whito’s fixed anchors and expanded to ten brands, so scores are not comparable with the earlier edition. Meta Ad Library counts were read on 23 October 2026, after the library was unavailable on 22 October.
- Social: which platforms the brand links to from its own site, and whether we could see recent posting and video.
- Website: 2 for a brochure page, 4 with a contact route on mobile, 6 with a page per service and a one-step enquiry, 8 with prices or ranges and registration numbers shown, 10 with online booking, an online checkout or an instant priced quote.
- Email: visible capture only, as we did not subscribe test inboxes for this edition. 2 for a bare newsletter form, 4 for a customer account, 6 for an app, 7 for a newsletter plus an app, up to 10 for a loyalty or app ecosystem with personal offers.
- SEO: ten UK searches for this sector, run through a standard web search API (22 October 2026; not personalised, no location set beyond the town in the query); we counted how many returned the brand’s own site in the top ten results. 0 of 10 scores 2, 1 to 2 scores 4, 3 to 4 scores 6, 5 to 6 scores 8, 7 or more scores 10, plus 1 for a substantial advice library. The searches: removal company near me UK; house removal cost UK; self storage cost UK; house removals UK; self storage near me UK; removals London; removals Manchester; removals Birmingham; removals Leeds; removals Bristol.
- Paid: the Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days, by domain) and the Meta Ad Library (UK, active ads, counted by the advertiser page). 2 for nothing found in either, 4 for active in one with fewer than 10 ads, 6 for active in both or 10+ in one, 8 for active in both with 10+ in at least one, 10 for 50+ Google ads and 10+ Meta ads. Paid describes visible activity, not quality. A low paid score is not a fault.
- Reviews: a fixed formula. Rating (4.7+ scores 4, 4.5 to 4.69 scores 3, 4.0 to 4.49 scores 2, 3.5 to 3.99 scores 1) plus volume (10,000+ scores 4, 1,000+ scores 3, 100+ scores 2, 20+ scores 1) plus replies to the latest 20 reviews (half or more scores 2, some scores 1). Where Trustpilot sends a brand’s address to a parent company profile, we used that profile and say so.
- Brand: five checks worth 2 each: the same name and logo everywhere, one clear positioning line, a distinctive asset used for years, three or more independent press mentions in 90 days, and named people or expertise on the site. We award only what we could verify on the day.
These anchors are fixed for this edition, so the ten scores can be read against each other. Boards published before October 2026 used scores relative to the other brands on the board, so compare across boards with care.
Common questions
Which UK removals or storage brand has the best marketing in 2026?
Big Yellow and Safestore, on this board, level at 6.3 out of 10, ahead of AnyVan on 6.1. Big Yellow lets you reserve online with clear pricing, holds 4.8 from 5,822 Trustpilot reviews and earns the only brand score of 6, for a name and colour used for 25 years.
Which UK removals company has the best reviews?
Pickfords scores 10 on reviews, the only top score here, from 4.8 on 13,027 Trustpilot reviews with replies to 12 of the latest 20. White & Company holds 4.8 from 3,072 reviews. AnyVan has the most, 207,887 at 4.6, but replies to none of its latest 20.
Which brand scores lowest, and why?
Pickfords and White & Company share the lowest score, 4.7. Both ask for a quote or survey before giving a price and capture no email. Pickfords appeared in none of 10 UK searches; White & Company appeared in 4 but runs no Google ads that we could find.
Is AnyVan an actual removals company?
AnyVan describes itself as covering home removals, courier services, delivery and storage. It gives instant online prices and shows recent move prices on its homepage, which is why its website scores 10. It holds the most Trustpilot reviews on the board, 207,887.
What can a local removals firm copy from these brands?
Publish a price range for common moves, as AnyVan shows real prices. Build a page for each town you serve, as Britannia Movers does. Reply to every review, as Bishop’s Move does. And offer a moving checklist for an email, since eight of the ten capture none.
Corrections and right of reply
If your business is scored here and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk. We check it against the source, correct it within five working days if we are wrong, and publish your statement alongside if you want us to. Scores are never changed for payment or because a business has claimed a Whito listing. Full route: corrections, right of reply and removals.
Related: all UK marketing leaderboards · Removal companies on Whito
If your business is named here and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk and we will check it and correct it. If you want to respond, send us a statement and we will publish it alongside. Full detail: Corrections, right of reply and removals.
