ILG vs the Competition

Competitor	Type	Competes with	Why included
Bright Horizons Kew	National chain	Orchard Kew	ILG bids on “Bright Horizons Kew”; ≈3k Google ads
Busy Bees Ealing Common	National chain	Corner House, Orchard Kew	ILG bids on it; 82 live Meta ads
Aston Pierpoint	Independent	Orchard Hampton	Most-searched competitor in the Hampton campaign
Tiny Thinkers	Independent	Orchard Hampton	ILG bids on it
Keren’s Nursery Wimbledon	Small group	Orchard Wimbledon	Local rival with an offer-led page
Kido Wandsworth	Premium group	Wimbledon, Ruskin, Kingston	35 live Meta ads; now advertising Kido Tolworth
N Family Club East Dulwich	Premium group	Ruskin House	195-place nursery near Herne Hill; ≈400 Google ads
Monkey Puzzle West Norwood	Franchise	Ruskin House	Franchise running branch-level Meta ads
Cybertots GWQ	Small group	Orchard Kew	ILG bids on it; 1km from Orchard Kew
Jancett Ross Road	Local group	Collingwood	ILG bids on it
Banana Moon Croydon	Franchise	Collingwood, Essendene	Searched in the Collingwood campaign; 9.95/10 reviews
Lanterns Arts Nursery	Independent	Wood Wharf	ILG bids on it
Monkey Puzzle Wokingham	Franchise	Yateley (Little Lodge)	Chain presence in Yateley’s area
Ipswich School	Independent school	Royal Hospital, St Felix	Royal Hospital’s top competitor keyword
Kew Green Prep	Independent school	Orchard Kew, Westbury	Running Meta ads in September
Unicorn School	Independent school	Orchard Kew	ILG bids on it
Derby High School	Independent school	Derby Grammar	Direct local rival
St Christopher School	Independent school	St Francis College	Direct Letchworth rival
West Buckland School	Independent school	Shebbear College	North Devon rival
Hall Grove School	Independent school	Yateley Manor	Surrey/Berkshire prep rival

Their winning plays, and ILG’s gap

Each play: what the competitors do (with evidence), what ILG does instead, and the change to make.

1 · They ask for the visit, not an “enquiry”

Biggest gap

Competitors: 68% put “Book a visit / Book a tour” in the first phone screen. Kido embeds a live slot picker (YouCanBook.me) and “Register for Open Day”; N Family uses Calendly; Busy Bees’ live Meta ads say “Find a time that suits your family” and “Book a slot that works for you”; Kew Green Prep leads with “Book an Open Morning”.
ILG: Every ILG ad page offers one action: “Enquire Now”. The parent then waits for someone to call them to arrange a visit, while the competitor already has a date in the diary. No ILG page lets a parent pick a slot.
Change: Primary button “Book a visit” opening a Digistorm form that asks for a preferred date and time (or a calendar tool such as Calendly/YouCanBook.me synced to the nursery manager’s diary). Keep “Ask a question” as the secondary. Use the same wording in ads: “Book your visit – pick a time that suits you”.

2 · They run on dated events

Gap

Competitors: 45% show a dated event. Bright Horizons Kew’s hero carries “Open Day · 2nd October 2026 · Book Here”; Busy Bees is running a national open week (“Join us, 21st–25th September”); Ipswich School: Autumn Open Event 26 September, “spaces are limited”; Derby High: Open Morning 3 October; Cybertots lists eight dates.
ILG: No ILG ad page shows an open-event date. The schools’ own sites do (“Register for an Open Day” on stnicholasnursery.org.uk), but paid traffic never sees it.
Change: One open morning per nursery per month through the autumn, and a Saturday stay-and-play. The date goes in the page hero, Google ads (countdown customiser plus an event sitelink) and Meta event creative. Register attendees in Digistorm as enquiries.

3 · They answer the money question

Gap

Competitors: Cybertots shows “£18.47 per hour”; Lanterns “£150.00 per day”; Banana Moon publishes day rates; Busy Bees has a “Fees” tab in its sticky menu; Kido’s live Meta ad is “2–3 Days Per Week Fully Funded at Kido”.
ILG: No fees on any ILG ad page; one generic line on funded hours. ILG’s search terms show parents asking about money: £660 went on free/funded-hours searches with no conversions, because the page doesn’t answer them.
Change: A fees-and-funding block in the first two screens: “from £X a day, 15/30 funded hours from 9 months, tax-free childcare accepted”, with a worked example (“3 days a week with 30 funded hours costs about £Y a month”). If exact fees can’t be published, say “Fees from £X – full fee sheet on your visit”.

4 · They put their proof in the first screen — ILG hides a better one

Hidden advantage

Competitors: Bright Horizons’ hero says “Ofsted Good”; Busy Bees has a Reviews tab; review widgets from daynurseries.co.uk on 9 of 13 nursery pages; Keren’s leads with awards; Bright Horizons’ Google ads show star ratings and “Directions” from its Google Business Profile.
ILG: ILG’s scores are better: St Nicholas 9.9/10 and Ofsted Outstanding, Orchard Wimbledon 9.8 (66 reviews), Orchard Hampton 9.8, Orchard Kew 9.5 (37 reviews), Wood Wharf a Top 20 London nursery 2025. The school’s own site says it (“our current parents rate us 9.9 out of 10”); the 228-word ad page doesn’t mention a score. ILG’s Google ads use no location assets, so no stars or distance show in the ads either.
Change: Hero proof line on every page: “9.9/10 from parents on daynurseries.co.uk · Ofsted Outstanding · Top 20 nursery group”. Add three short parent quotes with first name and child’s age. Link each school’s Google Business Profile to its Google Ads account and turn on location assets.

5 · They give parents enough to decide

Gap

Competitors: 85% have 600+ words (Bright Horizons 1,800, Monkey Puzzle 3,455, Jancett 3,155); 85% have video or a virtual tour (Matterport at Jancett, 360 tours at Kido, N Family and Busy Bees); Cybertots advertises live-stream cameras; Busy Bees shows hours, rooms and curriculum in tabs.
ILG: ILG ad pages have 186–231 words and share the same template text (“a caring nursery offering EYFS-based early years education in a safe and nurturing setting…”). One page in ten has a video. That thin, repeated copy is the likeliest reason Google rates 88% of ILG’s scored keyword spend “below average” for landing-page experience.
Change: Write each page for its own nursery: rooms by age, the garden, meals and chef, the parent app, staff (manager’s name and photo), a 60-second walk-through video filmed on a phone, 8–12 real photos, map and “5 minutes from Kew Bridge station”-type travel lines. 700–1,000 words, scannable.

6 · They keep a button in the parent’s thumb

Gap

Competitors: Busy Bees’ sticky bar reads “Ealing Common · 7:30–6:00 Mon–Fri · Book a visit”; St Christopher’s sticky bar “Make an Enquiry · Visit Us · Book A Tour”; West Buckland “Call Us · Prospectus · Apply”; Bright Horizons a persistent Chat button; Monkey Puzzle a sticky “Enquire Now”. Bright Horizons also uses call tracking (ResponseTap).
ILG: No sticky button, no chat. The Digistorm form starts about 1,800 pixels down on a phone (more than two screens); nine pages have no tap-to-call link.
Change: Sticky mobile bar: “Book a visit” + “Call” (tap-to-call). Move the form, or a 3-field short form (name, phone, child’s age), into the first screen.

7 · They advertise at a different rhythm

Media

Competitors: Busy Bees launched at least 25 new Meta ads on 15–16 September alone (82 live in total), each a variation on booking a tour or the open week. Kido runs a separate campaign per nursery (35 live) plus a funded-hours offer. Monkey Puzzle runs a Facebook page per branch and pre-launch “New nursery coming to Brentford” ads. On Google, Bright Horizons has ≈3,000 ads, Busy Bees ≈500, N Family ≈400, Kido and Monkey Puzzle ≈200 each (Ads Transparency Centre, all time).
ILG: ILG is not short of volume (≈2,000 Google ads) and it can do this: Orchard Cambridge launched 12 new Meta ads on 18 September including “Funded childcare available (15 & 30 hours)” and “Book Your Nursery Tour”. But most school accounts run one or two ads for months (Derby’s main ad has run since April; CTR fell from 2.56% to 0.77%).
Change: Copy the Orchard Cambridge set to every nursery now; then a monthly drop of 3 creatives per school built around the next event, a funded-hours offer and a parent quote. Promotion assets in Google for open events (only St Christopher’s uses one today) and price assets for “from £X/day”.

8 · Independent schools give a low-commitment first step

Prep & Senior gap

Competitors: West Buckland: “Download our prospectus”, “Open days & visits”, “Apply”. Hall Grove: “ENQUIRE · VISIT · APPLY · Register here”. Kew Green Prep: “Book an Open Morning · Register Your Child”. Derby High: a full enquiry form on the admissions page plus Open Morning 3 October.
ILG: Eton End, Essendene and Westbury Prep ad pages have no form: “Enquire Now” sends parents to a Digistorm page on another site. No ILG page offers a prospectus or a year-group guide, which is how prep and senior parents usually start (the decision takes months).
Change: Three paths on every Prep/Senior page: “Get the prospectus” (email only, instant PDF, then a nurture sequence), “Book an open morning” (dated), “Book a private tour”. Track prospectus downloads as a secondary conversion and follow up by phone within 48 hours.

Page	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Score
Bright Horizons Kew vs Orchard Kew	●	●	●	◐	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	10.5
Derby High School vs Derby Grammar	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	○	●	●	●	○	9
Busy Bees Ealing Common vs Corner House	●	◐	○	●	○	●	◐	●	●	●	●	○	○	8
Kido Wandsworth vs Orchard Wimbledon	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	●	○	●	●	○	○	8
N Family Club East Dulwich vs Ruskin House	◐	●	●	○	●	●	○	●	○	●	●	○	○	7.5
Keren's Nursery Wimbledon vs Orchard Wimbledon	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	7
Monkey Puzzle West Norwood vs Ruskin House	●	○	○	●	○	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	7
Cybertots GWQ vs Orchard Kew	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	○	○	7
Jancett Ross Road vs Collingwood	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	6
Banana Moon Croydon vs Collingwood	○	○	○	●	○	●	○	●	○	●	●	●	○	6
Lanterns Arts Nursery vs Wood Wharf	●	○	○	●	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	○	○	6
Monkey Puzzle Wokingham vs Yateley	●	○	○	○	○	●	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	6
Kew Green Prep vs Orchard Kew / Westbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	○	●	●	○	○	6
St Christopher School vs St Francis College	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	○	●	●	●	○	○	6
West Buckland School vs Shebbear	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	6
Ipswich School vs Royal Hospital / St Felix	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	5
Unicorn School vs Orchard Kew	○	○	●	○	○	○	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	5
Hall Grove School vs Yateley Manor	●	◐	●	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	3.5
Aston Pierpoint vs Orchard Hampton	○	○	○	○	●	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	3
Tiny Thinkers vs Orchard Hampton	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	●	○	○	○	2
ILG ad landing pages
St Nicholas	○	○	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	●	○	●	○	3.5
Ruskin House	○	○	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	2.5
Orchard Wimbledon	○	○	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	●	○	●	○	3.5
Orchard Kew	○	○	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	●	○	●	○	3.5
Orchard Hampton	○	○	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	2.5
Collingwood nursery	○	○	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	●	○	●	○	3.5
Wood Wharf	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	2
Derby Little Oaks	○	○	○	○	●	◐	○	○	○	●	○	●	○	3.5
Eton End Prep	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	1
Yateley Manor Prep	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	2

Threat	ILG school at risk	Evidence	Response
Monkey Puzzle Kew Bridge Rise opening autumn 2026	Orchard Kew (57–59 Kew Bridge Road)	Developer announcement; manager job ads “Brand new nursery coming Autumn 2026 – Brentford TW8”; “New Nursery Coming to Brentford” Meta ads live	Fix Orchard Kew’s tracking and page first (Search runs “blind”); lead with 7am–7pm hours and the 9.5 rating; add a founding-families sibling/loyalty offer for current Kew parents; run a Kew Bridge Rise geo-fenced Meta campaign before they open
Kido Tolworth advertising now	Orchard Kingston, Westbury, The Study	Kido Tolworth Meta ads live since August; premium brand with slot booking and funded-days offer	SW London cluster owner reviews Tolworth/Surbiton postcodes; add an “international curriculum”-style reason to choose Orchard (French, Teddy Tennis, Theatre Bugs already offered at Wimbledon)
N Family Club East Dulwich, 195 places	Ruskin House (Herne Hill)	Approved 2021 by Southwark (195 children); ≈400 Google ads; Calendly booking, 360 tour	Ruskin competes on intimacy and value, not scale: small-nursery message, fees block, manager video; Ruskin’s Google spend was cut to £188 in September — check this was intended
Busy Bees open week, 21–25 Sept	Corner House, Orchard Kew, Collingwood	82 live Meta ads; “Opening Autumn 2026” ads for a new site	Match with ILG open mornings the following Saturday (3 or 4 October) in the same areas
Bright Horizons Open Day, 2 Oct	Orchard Kew	Open Day banner in the Kew page hero	Orchard Kew open morning on a nearby date, with a stay-and-play session
Senior-school open events	Royal Hospital, St Felix, Derby Grammar	Ipswich School 26 Sept; Derby High 3 Oct	Publish dates now and run event campaigns 3 weeks out; brand-defence ads during rivals’ open weeks

ILG school	Main rival	What the rival does better	ILG’s edge to lead with	First action
Orchard Kew	Bright Horizons Kew; Cybertots	Dated open day in hero, “Book a visit”, chat, Ofsted in hero; Cybertots shows price and live-stream cameras	07:00–19:00; 9.5/10 (37 reviews)	Rebuild page with hours + rating in hero; open morning 3/4 Oct
Orchard Hampton	Aston Pierpoint; Tiny Thinkers	Parents search them by name; Aston Pierpoint publishes £75/day and funded hours from 9 months	9.8/10 rating; weaker rival websites	Stop bidding on their names (£764, 0 conversions); fees block and rating on page
Orchard Wimbledon	Keren’s; Kido	Keren’s “first month free” offer and form in page; Kido slot booking and funded-days ad	9.8/10 (66 reviews); 07:00–19:00; French, Teddy Tennis	Restart Google (no spend in September); fix placeholder images
Ruskin House	N Family; Monkey Puzzle West Norwood	Scale, Calendly booking, 360 tours, sticky enquire	Smaller setting, rating, Herne Hill location	“Small nursery, big garden”-type positioning; slot booking
Collingwood	Banana Moon; Jancett	Banana Moon 9.95/10 with day rates; Jancett virtual tour and live chat	Nursery-to-prep pathway on one site	“From nursery to Year 6 in one place” message; virtual tour
Wood Wharf	Lanterns	“Book A Visit” above the fold, price shown (£150/day), Google reviews	Top 20 London nursery 2025; new building	Answer phones (39% of ad calls missed); tap-to-call; award in hero
St Nicholas	Monkey Puzzle (Wembley/Harrow area)	Sticky CTA, branch-level Meta ads	9.9/10, Ofsted Outstanding, awards	Put 9.9 + Outstanding in the ad page hero; fix the phone-number mismatch
Derby Grammar	Derby High School	Open Morning 3 Oct published, “Book a tour”, fees and funding on admissions page	Little Oaks nursery pathway; best ILG Google conversion volume	Publish open-morning dates; fresh Meta creative (CTR 0.77%)
St Francis College	St Christopher School	Sticky “Make an Enquiry · Visit Us · Book A Tour”	All-through from nursery	Three-path CTA and prospectus on the sixth-form and prep pages
Shebbear College	West Buckland	Sticky Call/Prospectus/Apply; open days twice a year	Smaller classes, boarding	Prospectus download as the first step; fix Meta Senior goal
Yateley Manor	Hall Grove; Monkey Puzzle Wokingham	Enquire/Visit/Apply in the first screen; dated open events	Little Lodge nursery to Year 11 on one site	Pixel on prep pages first; then prospectus + open morning
Royal Hospital	Ipswich School	“Register to visit” page with dated events and scarcity	Boarding heritage, scholarships	Stop counting email clicks as conversions; event registration page

Action	Closes gap	Owner	Effort	Priority	When
Change every ad-page CTA to “Book a visit” and add a sticky mobile bar with tap-to-call	Plays 1, 6	Web	Low	P0	Week 1
Add rating, Ofsted and awards to every hero (St Nicholas 9.9 + Outstanding first)	Play 4	Web	Low	P0	Week 1
Set autumn open-morning dates for every nursery and school; put them on pages and ads	Play 2	Admissions + marketing	Medium	P0	Week 1–2
Orchard Kew defence plan before Monkey Puzzle Kew Bridge Rise opens	Threats	Cluster owner	Medium	P0	Weeks 1–4
Fees & funding block with a worked example on each nursery page	Play 3	Finance + web	Medium	P1	Week 2
Roll out the Orchard Cambridge Meta ad set (funded hours, book a tour) to every nursery; 3 new creatives per school monthly	Play 7	Creative	Medium	P1	Weeks 1–3
Link Google Business Profiles; add location, price and promotion assets	Plays 4, 7	PPC	Low	P1	Week 2
Self-serve visit booking (Digistorm date field or calendar tool)	Play 1	Digistorm admin	Medium	P1	Weeks 2–4
Rebuild the top 10 pages on the blueprint; A/B test 50/50 in Unbounce	Play 5	Web + school managers	High	P1	Weeks 2–8
Prospectus download and three-path CTA on Prep/Senior pages	Play 8	Web + admissions	Medium	P1	Weeks 3–6
Lead every nursery ad with 7am–7pm where true	Where ILG wins	PPC + creative	Low	P1	Week 1
Stop bidding on rival names that don’t convert (Hampton, Kew, Collingwood, Wood Wharf competitor campaigns)	Media	PPC	Low	P1	Week 1
Monthly competitor check: Meta Ad Library and Google Ads Transparency Centre for the 20 rivals	Ongoing	Marketing	Low	P2	Monthly

ILG vs the Competition

Who we compared

The scorecard

Their winning plays, and ILG’s gap

1 · They ask for the visit, not an “enquiry”

2 · They run on dated events

3 · They answer the money question

4 · They put their proof in the first screen — ILG hides a better one

5 · They give parents enough to decide

6 · They keep a button in the parent’s thumb

7 · They advertise at a different rhythm

8 · Independent schools give a low-commitment first step

Where ILG already wins — and should say so

Parent ratings

Longer days

Form on the page

Fast pages

Page-by-page matrix

New competitive threats in ILG catchments

Head to head, school by school

The ILG landing page, rebuilt

Action plan

Method and limits

Sources