How we chose
We started from the commercial agency offices Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the Property Ombudsman register, each firm's own website and the RICS and Propertymark pages [7] [8] [9]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Twelve firms met all three and ten make the ranked table. We looked first at what customers say, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated 4 September 2026.
How to hire
Match the agent to the job first. A commercial property agent sells and lets shops, offices and industrial units, finds tenants, collects rent and can manage the building — different work from valuing it, which belongs to a chartered surveyor, though some Telford practices do both under one roof. Say at first enquiry whether you are selling, letting or handing over management, and give the unit size, current use and lease position.
A typical instruction runs the same course from first contact to sign-off. The opening enquiry sets out the unit, its use and the lease position; then comes a visit and a written proposal with the fee. Signed terms of engagement follow, then photography, the board and the portals once the energy certificate is commissioned [12]. Viewings and offers run through the agent, and your solicitor takes the lease or conveyance from agreed terms to completion.
Check redress before you book. Every estate agency and lettings business must belong to a government-approved redress scheme — The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme — or face a fine [1]. Type the branch name into the search on the Ombudsman site and check the name that comes back matches the office you are hiring [7]. If it is missing from both registers, ask why before you go further.
Follow the money next. A letting agent that holds your rent or deposit must belong to a client money protection scheme and display the certificate in the office and on its website, providing a copy free of charge to anyone who asks [2]. Commercial estate agencies must also register with HMRC for money laundering supervision before they trade — it is a criminal offence to deal without registration [3]. Ask to see the money protection certificate and ask whether the registration is in place.
Read memberships for what they are. RICS membership points to a chartered practice working to professional standards [9], while Propertymark membership covers sales and lettings agents with training and conduct rules [8]. A logo on a board proves nothing on its own: confirm a stated membership on the body's own pages, and treat a scheme shown as not sourced on our table as a question to put to the agent.
Get the appointment terms in writing. Agency work is governed by legislation, so the agent must set out the basis of appointment, the fees and how they are calculated, plus any additional charges [10]. Compare sole agency against joint and multiple appointments: exclusivity usually earns the lowest percentage but ties the unit to one office [10]. Each quote should state the letting or sale fee, the VAT position, marketing and board charges, the tie-in length, and what you pay if the deal collapses.
Mind the flat above the shop. Most Telford commercial offices also let homes, and there the Tenant Fees Act bans almost all tenant charges: only rent, a tenancy deposit capped at five weeks' rent and a holding deposit capped at one week's rent are permitted, and letting agents must publish their fee lists [4]. If your deal mixes a commercial unit with a home, ask which letting rules the agent applies to each part.
Expect heritage questions on some Telford stock. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington and the Severn Gorge, and the Gorge carries World Heritage status with extra controls on minor changes [11]. Wellington shopfronts sit under council design guidance for signs and fronts [11]. If your unit sits in one of these streets, say so at first contact and ask how the agent has handled heritage limits before.
Line up the energy paperwork early. An energy certificate must be commissioned before the unit is marketed, and selling or letting without one available to prospects risks a fine [12]. Lettings carry a second test: since spring 2023 almost every private rented commercial unit needs a rating of E or above to be let or kept let, unless a valid exemption is registered [13]. Ask the agent to confirm the current certificate and its rating before the board goes up.
Close with paperwork you can file. Keep the signed terms of engagement, every quote and invoice, the energy certificate the agent arranges before marketing [3], and the completion statement showing commission deducted. The lease itself comes from your solicitor, since agents do not draft leases [6]. If the numbers shift mid-deal, stop and get the revised figure in writing before exchange or signing.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford ranges: selling through a commercial agent typically costs one to three per cent of the price, with sole-agency deals nearer one to two and a half per cent [5] [10]. Letting a unit typically costs around ten per cent of the first year's rent, with eight to fifteen per cent the usual span [6]. Management typically adds five to ten per cent of the rent collected [5] [6], excluding VAT, which goes on top [6].
What moves the figure is the basis of appointment first: exclusivity earns lower percentages, while joint and multiple agency push rates up [10]. Then come value and rent roll, since most agents set minimum fees — often thousands of pounds on lettings — so small units pay a higher effective rate [6]. Lease length, board and photography charges, and whether marketing is payable while the unit sits empty all shift the total [6].
Watch the extras in the small print: rent review and lease renewal fees charged on the new rent, energy certificate arrangement charges, and sole letting rights clauses that pay the agent the full letting fee even when you find the tenant yourself [6]. Marketing and set-up costs are commonly payable whether or not the unit lets [6]. On a unit let at fifteen thousand pounds a year, a ten per cent letting fee plus set-up can reach around two thousand four hundred pounds including VAT before the first rent arrives [6].
Get the scope in writing before marketing starts — exactly which service the percentage covers, which extras sit outside it, how VAT is handled, how long the tie-in runs, and what an abortive deal costs. Firms in this round publish almost no sale rates and only two publish landlord scales, so treat any single fixed price for a sale or re-let with no breakdown as a question, not an answer.
Rent reviews and lease renewals are their own job with their own fee. The charge usually tracks the new rent, so a review that lifts the rent lifts the fee with it, and the valuer's scope — inspection, comparable evidence, negotiation rounds — belongs in the same letter [6]. Agree whether the fee falls due on agreed terms or on completion, and what an abortive review costs.
If the auction route suits the unit, price it as a separate job. Ask what the entry and marketing contributions cover, how the reserve is agreed, what happens to each charge if the lot goes unsold, and where the legal pack sits in the timetable. Get each answer against the same written scope as a treaty quote so the two routes compare.
Red flags
No listing for the business on either approved redress register when you search its branch name [1] [7].
Holds your rent or deposit but shows no client money protection certificate on its site or in its office [2].
Quotes a sale or letting fee without seeing the unit or stating whether the appointment is sole, joint or multiple [10].
Gives one fixed price for a sale or re-let with no breakdown of the fee, marketing, VAT and tie-in [10] [6].
Asks a residential tenant for payments outside the permitted list or a holding deposit above one week's rent [4].
Starts marketing with no signed terms of engagement covering fees, extras and what an abortive deal costs [10].
Presses you to sign a long sole-agency tie-in on the first visit with no time to compare a second quote.
Puts the board up or lists the unit while the energy certificate is still uncommissioned [12].
Manages the let but sidesteps the question of where deposits and rent money sit when asked [2].
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.