How to hire
Match the studio to the job first. A piercing studio lives on needles and jewellery; a tattoo studio with a piercer suits combined work; a beauty studio suits piercings alongside treatments; and a high-street store suits simple earlobes. Cartilage, nostril, navel and oral piercings deserve a specialist using sterile single-use needles, while lobes are the one job a walk-in store handles well. When you enquire, name the exact site on the body and the jewellery you have in mind.
Telford shapes the choice in small ways. Drivers can check the council's map of the car parks it manages across the borough, with twenty-four free of charge, before they travel; visitors to the Gorge should know its car parks run pay-and-go by phone, text or app [10]. The Ironbridge studio sits inside the Severn Gorge conservation area, and Wellington centre is a conservation area in its own right, so planning rules weigh the historic character of both high streets [11]. If you live in Dawley, Madeley or Lawley, none of this round's studios sits on your doorstep, so expect a trip to Wellington, Oakengates or Overdale.
Check registration before you book. Telford & Wrekin requires every piercing operator and every premises where piercing happens to register with the council, and the certificate should sit on display where you can see it [1]. If you cannot see one, ask the studio how it is registered, then contact the council's Health Protection team to confirm the name is on the roll [1]. Registration covers the premises as well as the person, so a piercer registered elsewhere must register again for the Telford room [1].
Sort age and consent early. There is no statutory minimum age for most piercings, but nipple or genital piercing under sixteen can count as an offence, and many councils set sixteen as a condition of the studio's licence [2]. Studios set their own lines on top: one national chain pierces lobes from eight with a parent present and most cartilage from thirteen, with photo ID at every visit [5]. Take photo ID, and take a parent or guardian for anyone under sixteen. If a studio takes no ID and asks nothing about age, leave.
A typical booking runs the same course from first contact to sign-off. You make contact through the studio's booking page, by phone or by message, naming the exact piercing and the jewellery you have in mind. The studio should answer with a price and a time, and tell you what to bring. On the day, watch the hygiene routine before any needle appears: handwashing, fresh gloves and a sterile needle opened where you can see it [9]. Afterwards, leave with the aftercare routine in writing, a signed consent copy and a receipt showing what you paid [4].
Watch hygiene on the day. The piercer should wash their hands and pull on a fresh pair of disposable gloves for your piercing, open the sterile needle in front of you, and sterilise any reusable kit in an autoclave [9]. Reusable piercing guns cannot be sterilised properly and can damage ear tissue, so cartilage deserves a needle every time [9]. The national toolkit for tattooing and piercing exists because dirty kit can pass on blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis [3]. If gloves stay off or needles arrive pre-opened, leave.
Nail the jewellery and the price together. Nickel in low-grade metal is the classic cause of an angry new piercing, so ask for implant-grade titanium for a fresh hole and save steel and fashion jewellery for healed work [9]. Ask whether the quoted price includes the jewellery at all: one national chain's prices exclude it entirely, so compare carefully [5]. Get an itemised quote separating the piercing fee, the jewellery, aftercare products and any check-up, and ask whether VAT is added: most small studios sit below the ninety-thousand-pound registration threshold, so the price you see is the price you pay [8].
Leave with paper, not promises. Ask the piercer to explain the risks, the healing time and the cleaning routine, and take the aftercare advice home in writing [4]. Clean a new piercing twice a day with warm salty water, dry it with a clean paper towel rather than a shared towel, and keep it out of pools and off your hands while it heals [4]. Expect a signed consent form recording your medical history and the jewellery used. If the site swells hot and painful, oozes coloured fluid or you feel unwell, keep the jewellery in and contact your GP or NHS 111 the same day [4].
Book a check-up rather than worrying alone. A new piercing stays tender with pale crusting while it settles; heat, swelling, coloured fluid or feeling poorly point the other way, and the advice stays the same: keep the jewellery in and seek care the same day [4]. Tell the studio as well and ask for a check-up slot, taking the aftercare note and the receipt so the piercer can see what was used. Studios that publish check-up prices put that return visit on a clear footing, so ask what each visit costs before you need one.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford-area ranges run like this: ear lobes around eighteen to forty pounds single or twenty to fifty-five the pair; helix and most cartilage between twenty and fifty-five pounds; nostrils between twenty and sixty; navels between twenty and fifty-five; industrials and scaffolds between thirty and fifty-five; lips around twenty-five to thirty and tongues around thirty to thirty-five [5] [6] [7]. In Telford itself, Hello Beautiful prices navel piercing at twenty-five pounds with a five-pound piercing check-up. Treat every figure as rough: jewellery often sits outside the headline.
What moves the figure is mostly metal and site. Implant-grade titanium and gold cost more than basic steel; cartilage, industrials and surface work cost more than plain lobes; and pairs usually beat two singles. Jewellery changes and removals carry their own fees, starting around ten pounds a time at one specialist studio [6]. Aftercare products and down-the-line check-ups add their share, so ask what each visit costs.
Children's lobes deserve their own paragraph. Studios set their own age lines on top of the law: one national chain pierces lobes from eight with a parent present and most cartilage only from thirteen, always with photo ID [5]. A high-street counter suits straightforward first lobes, while a specialist studio suits a nervous child who needs more time. Oral and facial work moves on different factors: nostrils, septums, lips and tongues need shaped jewellery in the right metal, so the price should name the jewellery, the aftercare and what any check-up costs [9].
Ask about VAT before you agree. A studio must register once its taxable turnover passes ninety thousand pounds, and many Telford independents sit below that line, so the quoted figure is usually the final figure [8]. Larger stores account differently, which is another reason to get the total confirmed before the needle comes out. Where VAT applies, it should appear as its own line on the quote.
Get the scope in writing before work starts: the exact piercing site, the jewellery metal and whether it is included, the aftercare and check-up terms, the age and consent position for younger clients, and the total to pay. Keep the quote, the receipt, the consent copy and the aftercare note together. If the price changes mid-visit, ask why before you pay the difference.
Red flags
No registration certificate is on display, and nobody can say how the studio is registered [1].
The piercer skips handwashing or fresh gloves, or opens needles out of your sight.
Cartilage work is offered with a reusable piercing gun rather than a sterile needle [9].
The quoted price hides the jewellery cost until you reach the till [5].
No ID is taken, and nothing is asked about age or consent for a young client [2].
No consent form and no written aftercare change hands before the piercing.
Nipple or genital piercing is agreed for someone under sixteen [2].
The piercer cannot name the metal in the jewellery meant for a fresh piercing.
Fashion jewellery or silver is offered for a fresh hole instead of implant-grade titanium [9].