Case Study - Mark Smith Glazing Limited

Tuesday 1 September 2026

From one van to twenty staff, and thirty years of Edinburgh glass

A sash and case window in a Portobello terrace, a set of bifold doors opening onto a garden in the south of the city, and a pane of curtain walling lifted into place by crane on a commercial block in the centre of town are three very different jobs. Mark Smith Glazing does all three, and has been doing work of that range in Edinburgh for thirty years.

The company started with Mark Smith himself, working out of a van. It now employs twenty people, made up of office and admin staff, glaziers, joiners and engineers, running from 258 Portobello High Street. Most of the work stays in Edinburgh and the Lothians, though the company covers the rest of Scotland when a job calls for it.

The ambition has not moved much in three decades. In the company's own words, it is to be the best window, door, glass and glazing company in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.

Work that ends up looking like it was always there

Most of what the company does is domestic, and most of it is on Edinburgh housing stock that was never built with modern glass in mind. A stone villa gets a garden room with sliding doors and a flat roof lantern. A traditional terrace gets its sash and case windows put back properly rather than swapped for something that does not suit the street. A rear extension gets a run of bifolds that turn a dark back room into the part of the house everyone sits in.

The common thread is that the new glass has to look like it belongs. Working on sandstone, slate and stone terraces means matching proportions and sightlines as much as measuring an opening, and it is the reason the company keeps joiners on the payroll alongside the glaziers.

It also means the range of work is wider than the word glazing suggests. A garden room needs a roof, a structural opening and a floor as well as a set of doors, and a sash window that has dropped needs the case repaired before any new glass is worth fitting.

Researched before they arrive

Most of the company's work comes through word of mouth, which is a good position to be in and a difficult one to build on. What the Trusted Trader profile adds is the step that happens between the recommendation and the phone call.

“Most of our work is through word of mouth and lots of clients research us on Trusted Trader and this helps us secure the contract,” the company says. On the residential side the pattern is consistent enough to be relied on: “most clients search for reviews before we arrive to quote for the works and having these positive reviews certainly helps.”

“Being a Trusted Trader gives our customers confidence in choosing us, and our positive reviews continue to help us win new business.”

229 reviews sit on the profile at an average of 4.9 out of 5. They are left by customers on the Trusted Trader site rather than gathered by the company, which is what makes them worth reading, and the company shares them on social media as they come in.

What Trading Standards check, and what they do not

Edinburgh Trusted Trader is run in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council Trading Standards team. Before a business is accepted, Trading Standards look at the business and the people who own it: complaints history, insurances, Companies House records, the disqualified directors register, advertising and terms of business.

That was the reason the company joined. “We decided to join Trusted Trader due to the vetting process,” it says, adding that the standard of service the company already held itself to is the thing that comes through in the reviews. The vetting itself was straightforward enough: “we found the process ok.”

What Trading Standards do not do is inspect anybody's workmanship, and that division is deliberate. The council checks the business is who it says it is and has behaved properly. The customers, in the reviews, say what the work was like.

The jobs that need a crane

Alongside the domestic work there is a commercial side that most homeowners never see. Office buildings need curtain walling replaced, glass frontages need units swapped out at height, and a cracked pane four floors up is a job for a crane, a platform and a road closure rather than two people and a set of suction pads.

It is the part of the business that keeps the specialist kit and the trained crews in place, and it is why a domestic customer with an awkward job tends to find the answer is yes. Access equipment, lifting gear and crews trained to use them do not get bought for one job a year.

It is also the side of the work that keeps the company moving between two quite different worlds in the same week: a main contractor's programme on a city centre block on the Monday, and a family waiting on a new back door on the Thursday.

Twenty staff, and a plan to keep growing carefully

Membership has done what the company hoped it would, mostly on the residential side. “Trusted Trader has helped us continue to grow our residential side of the business. It has given potential customers confidence in choosing us, which has resulted in increased enquiries and secured work. As the business has grown, we have expanded our team to 20 members of staff.”

Contact with the scheme itself has been straightforward. “We have had contact with the Trusted Trader team and have always found them helpful and professional. Any communication has been straightforward, and they have always been happy to assist when needed.”

The plan from here is more of the same, done carefully. The company wants to keep growing while holding the standards it is known for, expanding across Scotland, investing in the team, and staying one of the leading glazing companies in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.

Thirty years in, the summary is a short one. “We are proud to have built a business that has been serving customers for over 30 years. Our reputation has been built on quality workmanship, reliability and excellent customer service.”

Jonny Blurton
Managing Director, Mark Smith Glazing Limited

Questions we are often asked

What area do Mark Smith Glazing cover?
Edinburgh and the Lothians for the majority of their work, from a base at 258 Portobello High Street, and the rest of Scotland where a job calls for it.

What glazing work do Mark Smith Glazing take on?
Double and secondary glazing, uPVC, aluminium and composite windows and doors, sash and case window repair and replacement, curtain walling, rooflights and cupolas, conservatories, glass splashbacks, mirrors and decorative glass, safety glazing, window and door lock repairs and emergency glass replacement. They work on both domestic and commercial buildings.

Has Trading Standards checked the business?
Yes. Mark Smith Glazing Limited has been an Edinburgh Trusted Trader member since 2018, on a scheme run in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council Trading Standards team, and the business and its owners have been vetted by Trading Standards. Trading Standards do not inspect or approve individual jobs, so the workmanship is judged in the customer reviews on the profile.

• View Mark Smith Glazing's Edinburgh Trusted Trader profile.
• Read Mark Smith Glazing's verified customer reviews.
• Visit the Mark Smith Glazing website at www.marksmithglazing.com.
• If you would like to become a Trusted Trader, you can apply here.
• If you are a Trusted Trader and would like to leave a case study either as text or as a video, get in touch.