How we chose
We started from the kitchen fitters Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the KBSA and FMB directories and the TrustMark register, each firm's own website and platforms such as Checkatrade and Google [1] [2] [3]. 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. Eleven firms met all three. We looked first at what customers say — the star rating itself, since beyond a small handful of reviews volume adds nothing — 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 early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the person to the job first. A kitchen fitter owns the dry fit: building and levelling units, hanging doors, fitting worktops, sinks, taps and appliances into place. Connecting a gas hob or oven belongs to a Gas Safe registered engineer, and it is illegal for anyone else to do that work [6]. Adding a new circuit or replacing the consumer unit counts as notifiable electrical work, which must be certified or notified through a registered competent person [4] [5]. When you first enquire, say which room, which appliances and whether gas or wiring moves.
Kitchen fitting itself needs no mandatory registration, so check the voluntary markers instead. Search the KBSA member directory by postcode and check the name that comes back matches the business you are hiring [1]. The FMB's find-a-builder service points to member building firms whose work is inspected [2], and TrustMark lists firms checked on competence and customer service [3]. Ask for the Gas Safe card before any gas connection and the NICEIC or NAPIT number behind any electrical work, and confirm both on the registers yourself rather than taking a logo on a van at face value [6] [7] [8].
Telford and Wrekin adds its own wrinkles. Knocking the kitchen through into the dining room is the alteration the council team sees most: where the wall holds up rooms above, an application goes in before work starts, not after [15] [14]. Homes inside the Ironbridge Gorge sit under an Article 4 direction that removes many permitted development rights, and eight conservation areas across the borough tighten what can change outside without permission [16] [18]. Where terraced streets leave nowhere for a skip, one on the road needs a council licence through the skip firm while one on your own drive needs none [19].
Stock shapes the job. Gorge cottages and older Wellington, Dawley and Madeley rooms can mean tight access and walls that are less straight than they look, with listed or conservation limits on what changes outside [17] [18]. Out on the newer estates around Lawley the kitchens tend to be bigger, squarer and easier to work in, as the borough's large-scale extensions keep adding young homes [20]. Mention which kind of home you have at first contact, since it changes what the survey checks.
Insist on a home survey before anyone prices. A proper survey measures the room, checks walls, floors, pipe runs and the consumer unit, and turns into drawings or a screen design you both sign off. Agree who does each part — plumbing, electrics, plastering, tiling — and who coordinates them, since one named contact beats three separate diaries. Ask for the expected lead time from order to installation day as well as the fit itself, and get the drawings, the scope and the finish date in writing before you pay a deposit.
A typical job runs enquiry, home survey, signed-off design, a wait while units are made, then rip-out, fitting and a final walk-round. The quiet weeks between signed design and fitting days are normal: that is manufacture and lead time. Agree the trades, dates and payment stages before paying a deposit, and hold the balance until the snag list is cleared and every certificate is in your hands.
Get two or three itemised written quotes that separate labour, materials, appliances and VAT on the same written scope, so you compare like with like [9]. Each quote should name the units, worktops and appliances, rip-out and disposal of the old kitchen, tiling and making-good, the start date and payment stages — a deposit for materials and the ordered kitchen is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Treat an outlier, far above or below the rest, as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what is included or excluded.
Agree what happens to the old kitchen. Most rip-outs need a skip or a carrier to take units, worktops and appliances away, and skip hire runs £200–£250 a week where it is not included [10]. Anyone carrying your waste must hold a waste carrier registration — search the business name on the Environment Agency public register yourself [13]. If the quote says waste is included, ask whether that means a skip outside your home or removal in the fitter's own van.
At the end, collect the paperwork before you pay the balance: the written guarantee terms with their length and what they cover, appliance manuals and registration cards, an Electrical Installation Certificate or Minor Works certificate for any electrical work plus the Building Regulations notification where one applies [5], and the gas safety record for any gas connection [6]. Walk the finished kitchen with a snag list — doors aligned, seals finished, appliances tested — and agree when each snag will be fixed. File everything with your house papers; you will need it when you sell.
Pricing
As of summer 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this. Fitting labour for an average family kitchen costs around £3,500 excluding the kitchen itself, typically £2,000–£6,000 depending on size — about £2,000 for a small kitchen, £3,500 for a medium one and £5,000 for a large one [10]. A full new kitchen supplied and fitted starts under £7,000 for a small budget scheme, with installation alone running £2,200–£4,600 [11]. Telford usually sits below London and South East prices, where labour runs highest [10].
Day rates for fitters run £250–£350, and fitting worktops alone costs £300–£1,000 [10]. The average fit takes around ten working days, though design, manufacture and lead times come on top [10]. What moves the price most is size and specification: cabinet count, stone versus laminate worktops, layout changes that move plumbing and wiring, plus tiling, plastering and flooring around the fit. Kitchen material prices are still rising gently, so older guides understate today's cost [12].
A facelift is the smallest ticket in this round: new doors, a respray or replacement worktops on cabinets that are sound and staying put, often fitted in days by a makeover brand. Door count moves the figure most, then worktop stone against laminate, then any carcass repairs found on the survey. With no rip-out and no layout change there is less to go wrong, but get both quotes before deciding which wins.
A full replacement with the layout altered sits at the other end. Moving plumbing runs, soil pipes or the consumer unit pulls extra trades into the programme, while stone worktops, tiling, plastering and flooring around the fit each add labour days [10]. A bespoke handmade kitchen carries design and making time before the fitting days begin. Name every extra in the written scope, or the cheapest paper quote becomes the dearest job on site.
Ask whether each quote includes VAT or adds it on top, since a fifth on top changes the answer. Skip hire for the rip-out runs £200–£250 a week where it is not included [10]. Firms in this round all offer free designs, surveys or quotes but publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a full fit with no breakdown as a question, not an answer.
Get the scope in writing before work starts — exactly which units, worktops, appliances, rip-out, disposal and making-good are included, which certificates you will receive, and what changes the price if the fitter finds worse walls, floors or wiring than expected. Agree payment stages and keep every quote, invoice, certificate and guarantee together [9].
Red flags
Quotes a full kitchen fit without visiting or asking for measurements and photos of the room.
Says they will connect the gas hob themselves but cannot show a current Gas Safe card [6].
Gives one fixed price with no breakdown of labour, materials, appliances and VAT [9].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [9].
Will not say how the old kitchen leaves your home or show a waste carrier number you can check [13].
Starts work with no agreed drawings, scope or finish date in writing.
Treats missing certificates for new circuits or gas connections as paperwork you do not need [5] [6].
Presses for an on-the-spot decision with a discount that expires before you can compare quotes.
Cannot name the registered engineer who will connect the gas or sign off the electrics [6].
The bottom line
For most Telford homes, start with Shropshire Bathrooms, Kitchens and Tiles: one contractor for the whole room, federation membership on record and a showroom to visit, with its own installers. Its insurance goes unstated and the company record is young, so ask for proof of cover and an itemised quote first. If you would rather browse a retail range before deciding, The Kitchen Depot is the calmer starting point — pick it for design appointments and a replacement-door service.
Match the firm to the job: Ironbridge for a handmade kitchen, Dream Kitchens for a family-run showroom, Dream Doors or Facelift for a makeover without new cabinets, and DPL where a long written guarantee matters. Then get two or three itemised quotes on the same written scope, check who handles the gas and electrical connections, and agree the design, price and finish date in writing before anyone lifts a tool.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.