The next big leap in smart technology

Kubu has been instrumental in driving smart technology into homes via sensors on doors and windows, thanks to the close relationships it forges with fabricators and installers. This year the company unveiled new products that promise to grow that market further. Total Installer talked exclusively with managing director Ryan Bromley and head of marketing and technology Marc Henson to learn more.

Kubu sprang from the traps at the beginning of 2025 with the launch of its new Pro Sensor, which promises to improve the take up of smart security technology in the home by breaking down further barriers to entry.

It took two years to develop, in which time Kubu worked closely with a few large fabricators with the aim of putting sensors in every window and door they make.

“Essentially, they’ll be the first fabricators in the UK who are smart as standard,” Kubu’s managing director Ryan Bromley tells Total Installer. “And that will flow through to the installers and homeowners, across composite doors, PVC windows, French doors, and everything else they manufacture.”

Ryan singles out composite door manufacturer Comp Door as an example.

“We sat down with them and we developed a spec and a project brief to develop a door lock that was integrated with smart technology as standard, so they can elevate their offering,” Ryan says. “This was not just to offer a composite door like everybody else, but an intelligent door as standard throughout their factory.

“It took us 18 months to two years to develop a new range of Kubu sensors across a new protocol that allows the fabricator to build the technology in, but while giving the installer access to the tech without needing to pay £80 for a smart hub.”

This, Ryan explains, is key. Rather than requiring further investment in a hub to link all the devices together, the technology works on a common platform, which means that the fabricators can fit it, the installers can retail it, and the homeowner can make the use of it, all for a few quid per opening.

“The Kubu Pro Sensor is actually just one part of the Kubu eco system,” Ryan says. “So, while we are leading with the Pro Sensor, we’ve built a new app, a new hub, and a new protocol.

“Installers can now buy sensors and build them into their windows a lot more cost effectively. And if a homeowner has a composite door that works with Kubu, they can now go and kit out the entire home with Kubu, and not just have it on the odd one or two openings.

“It also gives the installer leverage, because they can now offer a full house of smart windows and doors instead of just one smart door or one smart window. It just wraps the whole package together for them.”

And the product is gaining traction in the industry, with some big brands investing heavily in the brand and the opportunities it offers.

“Selco are the largest builders merchants in the country, and they’re all about offering something completely different,” Ryan says. “So we worked very closely with CWG to provide windows and doors that could not only be upgraded to Smart, but have it built in.

“As of February, all windows and doors in Selco’s depots come from CWG with the sensor built in. And it’ll be the same for their drop ship route in the coming months.”

In another significant development, the new Pro Sensor can pair with any type of hardware, and on any type of window.

“We’ve developed it in a way that it can recognise what type of window it’s on,” Ryan explains. “If I fit the Pro Sensor to a VS, it knows it’s a VS. If I fit it to a composite door, it knows it’s a composite door, and that’s where the magic happens. It can literally go anywhere, giving homeowners and installers a complete differentiator.”

Kubu is supporting this new technology with effective marketing tools, which includes TV adverts on leading platforms.

“We reinvest 10% of our revenue back into marketing for our Pro Installers to help them grow leads,” Kubu’s head of marketing and technology Marc Henson says. “We do that across a variety of mediums, such as social, press, advertising, etc.

“One of our Pro Installers, Droylsden Glass, wanted to go down the Sky TV route. So, we worked together with them and a media agency to create a TV advert, which we then broadcast across the Sky network to a highly targeted audience within their geo location for 30 days.

“We followed that up with retargeting across social media and YouTube. It has been very successful – they have obtained over £500,000 worth of business that we can attribute to the adverts.”

Marc explains that the highly targeted approach to marketing is clearly working, but the ‘smart’ message is also hitting home with a new window and door buying audience.

“The smart windows and doors message that we’ve been putting out is tapping into a completely new demographic, and seems to be opening doors – excuse the pun – that other standard marketing just wasn’t hitting home,” Marc says.

“We’ve seen vast reductions in cost-per-click. We’ve seen huge increases in clickthrough rates, and conversion rates – once we’ve got those leads – seem to be higher as well.

“We’ve seen that across both the TV that we’ve done with Droylsden and also through our paid media that we’re doing with other installers such as T&K.”

Kubu also makes ordering and selling sensors easy, to make the process as seamless as possible for all the parties involved.

“Some fabricators fit sensors a standard, and there are others that just fit the hardware and the installers fit them a standard,” Marc says. “But we take the monkey off their back entirely.

“We will drop ship the sensors to their customers, so all they need to do is take an order, send us the survey, and we will then handle all of the hard work and logistics for them.”