How we chose
We started from the marketing agencies Google Maps shows across Telford. Industry qualifications were sourced from the registers, each firm's own website and the platforms checked [2] [3] [4] [8]. 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. What customers say counts most toward the score, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded for 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 firm to the job first. A content studio owns video, photography and social; a PR practice owns press coverage, reputation and training; a web agency owns sites, shops and search, and few firms do all three equally well. Drone filming is the one job with a licence attached: anyone flying a camera drone for your business must hold CAA operational authorisation, so ask for the operator ID and read the CAA's own drone guidance before the shoot day [1].
There is no mandatory register for marketing agencies, so anyone can set one up and a badge on a website proves nothing on its own. What you can check depends on the claim: Partner status lives with Google's own Partners programme [2], charter accreditation appears in the Good Business Charter's directory of accredited organisations [8], and data-protection registration can be searched on the ICO register [3]. Where a firm claims an award or partnership, ask for the listing or certificate behind it.
Run the company check yourself whatever the trade. Type the legal name into the Companies House search and confirm the record is active and the address matches the one on the quote [4]. Brands and legal names often differ, so the invoice must carry the legal one. Then search the ICO register for the same name to confirm the data-protection entry behind any customer database the firm will hold for you [3].
Ask for an itemised quote against the same written brief: exactly what will be delivered, how many revision rounds and shoot days are included, who supplies copy, images and logins, and the timetable with review points. Management fees and ad spend must sit on separate lines, and the quote must state whether VAT is included and what changes the price if the brief grows. Quotes written against different scopes tell you nothing, so send every bidder the same pages and keep each reply.
Settle ownership before money moves. Your terms should say in plain words that you own the website, the domain, the ad accounts and the finished files, with admin access handed over and any licence or handover fee named. Deposits are normal for design and video work, but staged payments tied to visible milestones beat a large sum up front, and every business-to-business quote in this round should be read as excluding VAT unless it says otherwise [6].
At handover, collect admin logins, source files, the final invoice and written confirmation of what you own, plus reports showing where any ad spend went. Marketing claims must follow the UK advertising code, which the ASA enforces when readers complain [5]. If a Telford supplier stops answering or the invoice does not match the quote, Citizens Advice sets out your options for faulty services and disputed bills [7].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, a starter website from an assessed Telford firm runs to a few hundred pounds: fixed packages at £299 for a starter build and £599 for a standard one, covering consultation, domain, a year of hosting, on-page SEO and contact forms, while another practice advertises sites from £399 with a monthly special offer. Bespoke builds are quoted to budget, with same-day turnaround promised at one Ironbridge practice. Treat any single fixed price for a large bespoke job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer.
Priced content is rarer but clearer where it exists: drone video starts from £300 and photo shoots from £250 at the town-centre practice, and studio design time runs to £100 an hour with itemised estimates that change only if your brief does. At the other end, one digital partner shows budget bands from under £5,000 to over £50,000, which tells you retainers and consultancy briefs live in a different league from starter sites.
Scope moves the price most: page and product counts, revision rounds, shoot days and editing time, whether the firm writes your copy, and whether photography or a studio day is hired in. Monthly search, social or ads management is usually quoted separately from the build, and ad spend itself always sits outside the fee, so confirm what a month of management buys and how results are reported before you sign.
Ask whether VAT is added on top, since most published figures exclude it; the standard rate is 20% [6]. Most firms in this round publish no prices at all, so get the scope in writing with payment stages tied to milestones, and keep every quote and invoice together.
Red flags
Quotes a website or content package without asking what the pages, products or shoot days involve.
Will not say which legal entity stands behind the quote when the brand and the company name differ.
Flies camera drones but cannot show a CAA operator ID when asked [1].
Promises first place on Google or a fixed number of new customers for a set fee.
Asks for the full fee in cash before starting, with no written scope or terms.
Runs your ads from its own accounts and will not give you admin access or monthly spend figures.
Hands over a finished site with no admin logins, source files or written transfer of ownership.
The bottom line
For most Telford businesses with a content-led brief, start with Shropshire Creative Agency: drone, video, design and social from one town-centre team, starting prices on the page and stated cover behind the cameras. If the brief is a shop that must sell from day one, isev pairs the build with ads management; if it is reputation and press coverage, J&PR is the specialist pick.
Match the firm to the job, then send the same written brief to two of them and compare the itemised quotes line by line. Settle who owns the website, the ad accounts and the finished files before anything goes live, and keep every quote and invoice together.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.