How we chose
We started from the thirty-two patio firms Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the Checkatrade register, each firm's own website and platforms such as TrustMark and Book a Builder UK [6] [11]. 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. 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 firm to the job first. A patio installer owns excavation, sub-bases, laying, cutting and pointing in Indian sandstone, porcelain or block paving; a landscaper suits a patio inside a full garden redesign, and a builder suits one inside an extension or walling job [3]. When you first enquire, say which material you have in mind, the rough size in square metres, how machines or barrows reach the garden, and whether levels fall toward or away from the house.
Telford's mix of old and new shapes the job in front of you. Wellington is an old market town folded into the new town beside former townships, with newer low-density estates around them, all set on a coalfield the Development Corporation spent years reclaiming [14]. That history shows up on site: older terraces can mean barrowing every slab through the house, while newer estates usually give side access but tight parking. Say how machines or barrows reach the garden in your first message, with photos of both ends of the route.
No licence is needed by law to lay a patio, so check voluntary proof instead. The Marshalls Register lists accredited landscape contractors and driveway installers you can search by area, and members back domestic work with a ten-year hard landscape guarantee — ask the firm about it by name [1]. BALI runs a directory of accredited landscapers [9], TrustMark holds a register you can search for the specific trade [6], and Checkatrade profiles carry reviews from real jobs plus a record of the checks each trade has passed [11]. Search the register yourself rather than taking a logo on a van at face value.
Check the company and the waste plan together. Companies House shows free company detail including the registered address, the incorporation date and whether filings are up to date — search the exact limited-company name [8]. Anyone carting away your soil and broken slabs is carrying construction waste, which needs upper-tier registration, so search the business name on the Environment Agency waste carrier register [7]. Then ask for public liability insurance details in writing, with the insurer and limit named on the quote rather than a bare promise of full cover.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same written scope so you compare like with like [1] [10]. Each quote should name the slab by brand, type and thickness, the excavation depth, the sub-base depth and material, the falls and drainage, edging and jointing, waste removal, the start date and payment stages. A deposit for materials 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 left out.
Agree levels and drainage before anyone digs. Every patio must fall away from the house — the standard is roughly fifteen millimetres per metre — and finish below the damp-proof course, with a channel drain where it cannot [3]. Paving more than five square metres of front garden must be permeable or carry planning permission [5]. A rear patio at ground level is usually permitted development, but check first if the house is listed or in a conservation area [4]. Put the agreed levels and the drainage route on the written scope.
Telford and Wrekin brings its own paperwork wrinkles. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington, the Severn Gorge and Wrockwardine, and the Severn Gorge carries extra controls beside its World Heritage status, so a home near those lines needs a check with the council before anyone digs [12]. The council's conservation pages point to the Planning Portal and to its own pre-application advice service where the answer is unclear [12]. The Portal itself notes no area limit on hard surfaces at or near ground level elsewhere around the house, though heavy embanking or terracing can need an application, listed buildings need consent for significant works, and a new vehicle access needs the council's dropped-kerb permission [13].
A typical job runs in a fixed order. First contact is a call or form with photos, rough size, material and access; then a site visit where levels, falls, drainage and edging are agreed; then the written quote to set beside the others; then the dig-out, sub-base, laying and pointing across a few days; then a walk-round where levels, falls and finishes are checked against the scope before the balance changes hands. Keep the quote, the invoice, the guarantee terms and drainage photos together with the house papers from the day the job starts.
At the end, collect the invoice, the written guarantee terms showing what is covered, for how long and who honours them, and photos of the finished levels and drainage. File these with your house papers — you will need them if slabs settle or joints fail. Pay the balance only when the work matches the written scope. If a dispute will not resolve, Citizens Advice sets out your options for faulty home improvements [10].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this: concrete slabs £50–£80 per square metre laid; Indian sandstone £80–£130; porcelain £100–£180; concrete block paving £80–£140 [3]. A medium sandstone patio of twenty-five square metres lands around £2,000–£3,250 against £2,500–£4,500 in porcelain, and Telford tracks the Midlands average rather than London and South East prices [3] [4]. Guide figures include excavation, sub-base, materials and laying.
The slab is the biggest lever: laying labour is broadly similar whatever you choose, so the gap between concrete and porcelain sits almost entirely in the material [3]. Groundworks and labour are usually the larger share at well over half the total, which is why access, excavation and drainage move the figure next [4]. Drainage work can add £500–£1,500, a soakaway £200–£500, steps £100–£300 each and old-patio removal £20–£40 per square metre [3].
Replacing an old patio costs more than laying on open lawn, because the old slabs come up, the base is remade and soil and rubble leave site by skip or grab. Guides put old-patio removal at twenty to forty pounds per square metre on top of the laying rate, with drainage extras adding more where the ground holds water [3]. Where the dig exposes soft spots or old footings, the sub-base deepens and the price follows, which is why the written scope should say what moves the figure before work starts.
Small courtyard infills turn mostly on access and minimum charges, since a day or two of labour dominates a small area. Block paving sits near sandstone on materials but takes longer to lay piece by piece, which lifts the labour share. Porcelain costs most yet asks least in upkeep, so the highest quote can still prove the best value across the years. Whatever the job, the levers stay the same: access, excavation, drainage, edging, waste removal and VAT [3] [4].
Ask whether each quote includes VAT or adds it on top, and get the answer in writing. Firms in this round all offer quote routes but publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer. A straightforward medium patio usually takes a small team three to four days, with bigger areas, steps and wet weather adding time [4].
Get the scope in writing before work starts — the exact area, slab specification, sub-base depth, drainage, waste removal, guarantee terms and what changes the price if the dig reveals worse ground than expected. Agree payment stages and keep every quote, invoice and guarantee term together [10].
Red flags
Quotes for a full patio without visiting or asking for photos, measurements and how the garden is reached.
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of labour, materials, sub-base and VAT [3].
Claims accreditation but gives no membership detail you can check yourself on the scheme register [1].
Will not name the slab, its thickness or the sub-base depth going under your patio.
Has no plan for falls or drainage where water would run toward the house [3].
Plans to cart away soil and rubble but gives no waste carrier registration you can search [7].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [10].
Will not put the scope, price, start date and guarantee terms in writing before lifting a tool.
Starts digging before levels, drainage, price and start date stand agreed in writing.
Shows only catalogue pictures and cannot point to a finished patio of its own within reach.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.