How we chose
We started from the thirty-one paving firms trading across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the registers, each firm's own website and platforms such as Checkatrade and TrustMark [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. Ten firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score — 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 paving contractor lays block paving, flags, tarmac, resin and gravel drives, plus patios, paths, edging, repairs and cleaning. Landscaping-led firms suit a drive or patio inside a bigger garden job, while surfacing specialists suit large tarmac areas and commercial work. When you first enquire, say which surface you want, the rough size in metres, and whether the old surfacing must come up.
Know the drainage rule before you choose a surface. A new or replacement front drive of any size needs no planning permission if it uses permeable surfacing such as gravel, permeable block paving or porous asphalt, or if rainwater runs to a lawn or border to drain naturally [4]. Above five square metres, a traditional impermeable drive with nowhere for the water to go needs planning permission [4]. Where permission has been restricted, check with Telford and Wrekin planning before anyone digs.
Sort the dropped kerb before you book the drive. Driving over the pavement to reach your property needs a vehicle access approved by Telford and Wrekin Council, whether the access is new or an existing one widened [5]. Only the property owner can apply, with a tenant needing the landlord's written consent, and planning permission must be in place before any inspection [5]. The council looks for around six metres of hardstanding so no vehicle overhangs the footpath, and the application fee is £273 [5].
Check competence before you book. Paving has no Gas Safe-style licence, so look for voluntary proof instead. Type the business name into the Marshalls register of accredited garden and driveway installers, which lists vetted members you can search by area [1]. Run the same name through the TrustMark find-a-tradesperson search [2] and read its Checkatrade profile for how long it has been listed and what reviewers actually say [3]. Ask for public liability insurance details and one recent local job you could view from the pavement.
Agree where the spoil goes. Digging out an old drive produces soil, broken concrete and hardcore by the load, and whoever carries it away needs registered waste carrier status. Type the business name into the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers before work starts [6]. A proper quote names muck-away and skip hire as line items rather than burying them, and the finished job should leave your street, paths and drains clear.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same measured scope, separating labour, materials, muck-away and VAT so you compare like with like [9]. Each quote should state the excavation depth and sub-base build-up, the exact product and colour, how falls and drainage satisfy the permeable-surface rule, edging and making-good, start and finish dates, and payment stages. A deposit for materials is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Treat an outlier as a question rather than a bargain.
On the day, ask the crew to photograph the excavated base and the sub-base layers before the surface goes down. Those photos are your proof of the build-up if blocks settle or water ponds later. At the end, collect the itemised invoice, the written guarantee stating its length and exactly what it covers, and any product paperwork, then file them with your house papers. If the finish holds water or anything feels rushed, pause the job and ask for it put right before you pay the balance.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough ranges run like this: a new driveway typically costs between £60 and £120 per square metre including materials and labour, with gravel near £60, tarmac near £90, concrete near £95, block paving near £100 and resin-bound near £120 [7]. On a typical fifty-square-metre two-car drive that means around £5,000 in block paving or £6,000 in resin, against £3,000 in gravel [7]. Labour alone usually runs £30–£50 per square metre [7].
Patios price by the square metre too, from around £65 for plain concrete to £475 for high-end flagstone [8]. Budget paving slabs sit near £70–£100 per square metre laid and brick near £80–£140, while a new patio of any size usually starts around £1,700 before extras [8]. Labour runs near £280 a day for one tradesperson, and a typical twenty-square-metre patio takes three to four days to lay [8].
Groundwork moves the price most: digging out, a new sub-base, drainage to meet the permeable-surface rule, edging, steps and making-good all add labour and materials [7]. Access matters as well — a back garden with no side entry costs more in barrowing time than an open front drive. Extras such as gates, lighting and planting sit outside the paving quote unless the firm states otherwise.
Ask whether VAT sits on top of the headline figure, since published ranges may exclude it [7] [8]. Firms in this round publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer. Get the scope in writing before work starts — the exact area, product, base depth, drainage, guarantee, and what changes the price if the dig throws up worse ground than expected.
Red flags
Quotes a full driveway without visiting or asking for photos and measurements of the area.
Cannot give a waste carrier number you can check yourself on the Environment Agency register [6].
Starts digging before the dropped kerb approval is sorted where the drive meets the pavement [5].
Lays an impermeable front drive above five square metres with no drainage plan and no mention of planning permission [4].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [9].
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of labour, materials and VAT [7].
Will not put the scope, base build-up and guarantee length in writing before lifting a tool.
The bottom line
For most Telford homes, start with Tri Pave: drives, paths and patios from a long-claiming firm with full insurance stated and every contact route published. Its site carries no prices, so ask for an itemised quote on your exact area first. If platform backing matters more to you, Tradestone is a close alternative with Checkatrade accreditation claimed and its hours on the page.
Match the firm to the job: GES for a wide Shropshire patch, Trent or Master Drives where stated insurance counts, Wrekin or Right Choice for checkable reviews and stated cover, and Arcox or SM Landscaping when the paving sits inside a garden makeover. Then get two or three itemised quotes on the same written scope, and agree the base build-up, drainage and guarantee before anyone digs.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.