UK Windows & Doors Marketing Leaderboard 2026: CR Smith, Anglian and Help 2 Buy Scored

Last Updated on October 12, 2026

CR Smith scores highest of the five UK windows and doors brands compared, at 6.3 out of 10 on the Whito leaderboard.

Opinion and analysis. Whito read every brand below by hand on 12 October 2026, using publicly visible activity only. Each channel is scored 0 to 10 against fixed anchors, set out under How we scored, so a score describes what we could see on the day, not the quality of the service. Brands cannot pay to appear or to change a score. Where a figure is not published, we say so.

Window firms spend heavily on advertising, and it is easy to assume the biggest spender wins. This board shows it does not. Everest scores 10 on paid, with 65 Google ads and 38 Meta ads in the period read, yet finishes last at 3.6.

The top three are close. CR Smith (6.3), Anglian Home Improvements (6.1) and Help 2 Buy Windows (6.0) all advertise heavily, but CR Smith adds a published price, a real email signup and a named chairman. Two of the five, Anglian and Everest, are trading names of the same company, ASHI Group Limited, and their review records are far apart.

Everest’s gap is clear: no social links on its homepage, no email capture, and 2.7 from 13,510 Trustpilot reviews with no reply on any of the latest 20.

The leaderboard

Average is the simple mean of the seven channel scores, rounded to one decimal place. Read 12 October 2026.

Company verdicts

CR Smith, 6.3

CR Smith scores 6.3, the highest of the five. The Dunfermline firm, incorporated in 1972, covers seven areas of Scotland. Its website scores 8 because it shows a priced package, six windows and a door at £162 a month over seven years at 3.9% APR, alongside its FCA number. It is the only brand with a proper email signup for offers (6). Brand scores 6, helped by featuring its chairman, Gerard Eadie CBE. Paid scores 8, with 31 Google ads and 5 Meta ads. Reviews score 7 from 4.9 across 6,440. It did not appear in our ten searches. The clearest gap is replies: none of its latest 20 Trustpilot reviews has a company response.

Anglian Home Improvements, 6.1

Anglian Home Improvements scores 6.1. It is a trading name of ASHI Group Limited, which was called Anglian Windows Limited until January 2024. Paid scores 10: about 600 Google ads and 58 Meta ads, the most Meta activity on the board. The website (7) offers an online price form, remote quotes, live chat and a visualiser, with deposits from £249 shown. It appeared in 1 of 10 searches and keeps buying guides (SEO 5). Reviews score 7 from 40,744 Trustpilot reviews, with replies on 13 of the latest 20. The clearest gap is rating: at 3.9, it sits just under the 4.0 line despite answering most reviewers.

Help 2 Buy Windows, 6.0

Help 2 Buy Windows scores 6.0. It is an online quote and lead platform rather than an installer, and its site says its ‘grant’ is funded through the sale of leads and is not a government scheme. Paid scores 10, with about 200 Google ads and 17 Meta ads. Reviews score 8: 4.8 from 13,463 on Trustpilot. The website (7) has a five-step funding checker, cost guides and its GGF and FCA numbers. Email scores 4, as the checker collects contact details. It did not appear in our ten searches. The clearest gap is replies: none of the latest 20 Trustpilot reviews has a company response.

Cloudy2Clear, 4.9

Cloudy2Clear scores 4.9. It is a franchise network built on one idea, replace the misted pane, not the frame, and it has traded since 2005. Reviews are its strongest channel (9): 4.8 from 8,299 on Trustpilot with replies on 15 of the latest 20, the highest review score on the board. It ran 81 Google ads but no Meta ads naming the brand. The website (6) has repair pages and regional branch pages but no prices. There is no email signup (0) and it did not appear in our ten searches. The clearest gap is clarity about who the customer contracts with: no company number appears on the homepage.

Everest, 3.6

Everest scores 3.6, the lowest of the five. It shares an owner with Anglian, ASHI Group Limited, and spends heavily on advertising: paid scores 10, with 65 Google ads and 38 Meta ads. The website (6) has product pages, an advice section, an appointment form and deposits from £249, but no prices. It links to no social accounts from its homepage (0) and has no email capture (0). Reviews score 4: 2.7 from 13,510 on Trustpilot, with no reply on any of the latest 20. Its sister brand Anglian replies to 13 of 20. The clearest gap is the review record, which advertising alone cannot fix.

What the channels show

Advertising does not decide the ranking

Anglian, Help 2 Buy Windows and Everest all score 10 on paid, and CR Smith scores 8. Everest still finishes last, at 3.6, because it has no social links, no email capture and a 2.7 Trustpilot rating. Paid traffic lands on the same website and the same reviews as everyone else. If those are weak, the ad spend works harder for less.

One owner, two review records

Anglian and Everest both trade under ASHI Group Limited. Anglian holds 3.9 from 40,744 Trustpilot reviews and replies to 13 of its latest 20. Everest holds 2.7 from 13,510 and replies to none. Both show the same deposit, from £249, and both advertise heavily. Yet the two brands have very different public reputations, and the visible difference on the page is how each one handles its reviews.

Finance is the price signal

No brand puts a plain per-window price on its homepage. Anglian and Everest show deposits from £249, and Anglian shows 11.9% APR. CR Smith goes further with a priced bundle, six windows and a door at £162 a month over seven years, which helps it score 8 on website. Help 2 Buy Windows leads with a funding checker instead. Monthly figures and deposits are how this trade talks about price.

Search belongs to publishers

Across ten UK window and door searches, only Anglian appeared, once. Which?, MyBuilder, Checkatrade and price guide publishers took the rest of the results. Four of the five brands keep advice or guide libraries, but those libraries are not yet ranking for the searches tested, so their SEO scores sit at 3 or 5. Local cost and repair pages remain open ground.

Key lessons for any window or door installation business

Publish a worked price

CR Smith shows six windows and a door at £162 a month over seven years. A local installer can show a typical three-bed job as a price range or a monthly figure. It gives buyers an anchor before the survey and saves visits to people who were never going to buy.

Reply to reviews, especially bad ones

Cloudy2Clear replies to 15 of its latest 20 Trustpilot reviews and holds 4.8, the top review score here. CR Smith and Help 2 Buy have strong ratings but no replies in their latest 20. Replies show future customers how you handle a problem after fitting.

Offer a repair route

Cloudy2Clear built a franchise network around replacing the misted pane, not the frame. Many homeowners are not ready for new windows. A repair service brings them in, earns a review and puts you first in line when they do replace.

Show who you are

CR Smith features its chairman by name and is the only brand to pass the named people check. A local installer can go further: name the surveyor and fitters, show your company number and registered address, and say how long you have traded.

Collect emails for next time

CR Smith is the only brand with a real offers signup and scores 6 on email. Windows are bought rarely, but doors, repairs and conservatory work follow. A short list of past customers and enquirers is cheap to keep and useful for seasonal offers.

Steal this playbook

Five moves from this leaderboard, ranked by return on effort.

1. Reply to every review. Cloudy2Clear’s replies on 15 of 20 support the top review score; Everest’s none of 20 sit beside a 2.7 rating.
2. Publish a price or monthly figure for a typical job. CR Smith’s priced bundle helps it reach 8 on website and lead the board.
3. Add an email signup with a clear reason to join. Only CR Smith has one, and it scores 6 on email against 0 to 4 for the rest.
4. Name your people and show your company details. CR Smith is the only brand naming anyone, and Cloudy2Clear shows no company number.
5. Fix the basics before buying more ads. Everest scores 10 on paid but last overall, because its reviews and social presence are weak.

The evidence behind the scores

One line per channel, as read on 12 October 2026. Review figures change daily; these are the numbers on the day we looked.

CR Smith

• Social 6: Links Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube from its homepage, all under the CR Smith name.
• Website 8: Quote and design appointment form, brochures, advice centre, a priced package (‘six windows a door, £162 p/m’ over 7 years at 3.9% APR) and FCA number (crsmith.co.uk).
• Email 6: ‘Stay up to date’ email signup for offers and product updates, plus brochure downloads and customer case studies.
• SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned crsmith.co.uk in the top ten, plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
• Paid 8: Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days) showed 31 ads for crsmith.co.uk; Meta Ad Library (UK) showed 5 active ads naming the brand. Read 12 October 2026.
• Reviews 7: Trustpilot 4.9 from 6,440 reviews; 0 of the latest 20 have a company reply.
• Brand 6: Same name everywhere, a clear positioning line (‘Scotland’s most trusted name in windows, doors and living spaces for over 50 years’) and its chairman named; no long-running asset or three recent news mentions found.

Anglian Home Improvements

• Social 6: Links Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest from its homepage; no X, TikTok or LinkedIn account is linked.
• Website 7: Online ‘Get a Price’ form, remote quotes, live chat, visualiser and brochure; deposits from £249 and 11.9% APR shown, FCA number shown, no full prices on the homepage (anglianhome.co.uk).
• Email 4: Brochure request and quote forms only; no newsletter or offers signup found on the homepage.
• SEO 5: 1 of 10 UK web searches returned anglianhome.co.uk in the top ten, plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
• Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days) showed about 600 ads for anglianhome.co.uk; Meta Ad Library (UK) showed 58 active ads naming the brand. Read 12 October 2026.
• Reviews 7: Trustpilot 3.9 from 40,744 reviews; 13 of the latest 20 have a company reply.
• Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘The UK’s Number 1 Home Improvement Provider’); no long-running asset, named people or three recent news mentions found.

Help 2 Buy Windows

• Social 6: Links Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest from its homepage, all under the h2bwindows name.
• Website 7: Five-step online funding checker, quote page, cost guides, GGF and FCA numbers; no prices on the homepage and phone lines open Monday to Thursday only (help2buyscheme.co.uk).
• Email 4: Five-step funding checker collects name, phone and email; no newsletter or regular email signup found.
• SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned help2buyscheme.co.uk in the top ten, plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
• Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days) showed about 200 ads for help2buyscheme.co.uk; Meta Ad Library (UK) showed 17 active ads naming the brand. Read 12 October 2026.
• Reviews 8: Trustpilot 4.8 from 13,463 reviews; 0 of the latest 20 have a company reply.
• Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘The UK’s provider of privately-funded double glazing grants’); no long-running asset, named staff or three recent news mentions found.

Cloudy2Clear

• Social 6: Links Facebook, X and Instagram from its homepage; no YouTube, TikTok or LinkedIn account is linked.
• Website 6: Repair service pages, regional branch pages, quote form, phone seven days and guarantee registration; no prices or company number on the homepage (cloudy2clearwindows.co.uk).
• Email 0: No newsletter or offers signup; a guarantee registration section but no marketing signup.
• SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned cloudy2clearwindows.co.uk in the top ten, plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
• Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days) showed 81 ads for cloudy2clearwindows.co.uk; Meta Ad Library (UK) showed no active ads naming the brand. Read 12 October 2026.
• Reviews 9: Trustpilot 4.8 from 8,299 reviews; 15 of the latest 20 have a company reply.
• Brand 4: Same name across social and a clear positioning line (‘replace the pane, not the frame’); no long-running asset evidenced, named people or three recent news mentions found.

Everest

• Social 0: No social media links on the homepage; only a Twitter reference in page code, with no address.
• Website 6: Book-an-appointment quote route, phone 9am to 6pm, product pages, advice section and deposits from £249; no product prices (everest.co.uk).
• Email 0: No email capture found on the homepage beyond the book-an-appointment form.
• SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned everest.co.uk in the top ten, plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
• Paid 10: Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days) showed 65 ads for everest.co.uk; Meta Ad Library (UK) showed 38 active ads naming the brand. Read 12 October 2026.
• Reviews 4: Trustpilot 2.7 from 13,510 reviews; 0 of the latest 20 have a company reply.
• Brand 2: A clear positioning line (‘Your home deserves the best.’); no social presence linked, no long-running asset, no named people and no three recent news mentions found.

How we scored

Who is on the board. Five replacement window and door brands a UK homeowner is likely to meet, chosen for size and reach from Trustpilot’s UK window installation category (623 firms) and the brands’ own sites, not for marketing strength: two national installers (Anglian, Everest), a national franchise network for misted glass repair and replacement (Cloudy2Clear), a regional multi-site leader (CR Smith, seven areas of Scotland) and an online quote and lead platform (Help 2 Buy Windows). Anglian and Everest are trading names of the same company, ASHI Group Limited, which also trades as Safestyle; Safestyle was left out so one owner does not take three of five places. Brands were chosen for relevance and size, not for marketing strength.

• 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 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, up to 10 for a loyalty or app ecosystem with personal offers.
• SEO: ten UK searches for this trade, run through a standard web search API on 12 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: replacement windows UK; double glazing prices UK; composite front doors fitted UK; steamed up double glazing repair; double glazing grants UK; double glazing Glasgow; replacement windows Manchester; double glazing Edinburgh; windows and doors Norwich; misted window repair Birmingham.
• Paid: the Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days, by domain) and the Meta Ad Library (UK, active ads whose text names the brand, 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).
• 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.

These anchors are fixed for this edition, so the five 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 windows and doors brand scores highest on the Whito leaderboard?

CR Smith scores highest of the five brands compared, at 6.3 out of 10, just ahead of Anglian Home Improvements at 6.1 and Help 2 Buy Windows at 6.0. CR Smith leads on website, email and brand. The score measures visible marketing across seven channels, not the quality of windows or fitting.

Which windows and doors brand scores lowest?

Everest scores 3.6 out of 10, the lowest of the five, despite scoring 10 on paid with 65 Google ads and 38 Meta ads in the period read. It links to no social accounts from its homepage, has no email capture and holds 2.7 from 13,510 Trustpilot reviews with no recent replies.

How do window brands compare on reviews?

Cloudy2Clear scores highest on reviews, with 4.8 from 8,299 Trustpilot reviews and replies on 15 of the latest 20. CR Smith (4.9) and Help 2 Buy Windows (4.8) rate well but did not reply to any of their latest 20. Anglian holds 3.9 from 40,744 and Everest 2.7 from 13,510.

What can a local window installer copy from these brands?

Publish a worked price for a typical job as CR Smith does, reply to reviews as Cloudy2Clear does, and offer a repair route for misted glass. Add a simple email signup and name your surveyor and fitters. These cost little and four of the five big brands miss at least two of them.

Are Anglian and Everest the same company?

Both are trading names of ASHI Group Limited, company number 02540020, which was called Anglian Windows Limited until 3 January 2024. Their public records differ: Anglian holds 3.9 on Trustpilot and replies to most recent reviews, while Everest holds 2.7 and replied to none of its latest 20.

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 · Window & Door Installers on Whito

Whito

Whito is an independent UK research publisher. We publish research on how UK businesses are found, trusted and priced: what they cost to market, how their sectors work, and who actually gets recommended. Studies are free to read, every figure carries the date it was checked, and nobody pays to appear.

See Full Bio