How we chose
We started from the security firms Google Maps shows across Telford, matched each name, phone number and base against its website and the Companies House record, and read every site for services, areas and terms. Scheme claims were checked against the SSAIB and NSI searches, the BAFE register and the SIA contractor register, alongside platforms carrying independent reviews [1] [2] [4] [5] [6]. Each business must first meet our 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. There is no mandatory register for installers, though guards doing licensable work must hold SIA licences. A dozen firms met all three and ten make the table. We looked first at what customers say, then qualifications, then trading history and stated cover, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated September 2026.
How to hire
Match the installer to the job first. A security system installer owns burglar alarms, CCTV, access control and gates. Guards, patrols and keyholding belong to a manned guarding company, fire alarms to a fire specialist, and safes to a safe maker. An IT firm that lists CCTV, like one name in this round, can suit a small office refit but is no substitute for an alarm specialist at home.
Know which approval belongs to which job. For alarms and CCTV, look for SSAIB certification or NSI approval covering intruder alarms and CCTV systems. For fire detection and alarms, look for BAFE registration to the fire-alarm scheme. For guarding and keyholding, look for SIA Approved Contractor status, and every guard on a licensable shift must hold an SIA licence of their own. Many home insurers recognise certificated installs and some insist on one, so ask yours before you buy [3].
Telford adds its own wrinkle. Eight conservation areas cover the historic cores of Wellington and Newport and the villages of the Severn Gorge, and the Gorge carries an Article 4 direction that removes some permitted development rights from dwelling houses [12] [13]. Planning permission is not normally needed for a domestic camera, but the council says to check first inside a conservation area or on a listed building, and limits on size, height and position still apply [14] [18]. Where a lens sees past your boundary, data-protection law treats you as responsible for the footage, with a sign up, minimal capture and secure storage expected [15].
Match the kit to the street as well as the brief. Ironbridge and the Gorge villages sit mostly inside the conservation area, where fixings need a sympathetic hand and the council runs free planning surgeries for householders [13]. Wellington's historic centre and the old coalfield streets of Dawley and Madeley mix older cottages and terraces, where cable runs take longer, with later estates from the new-town years that suit wireless kits [12] [17]. Around Lawley the growth is newer still, with hundreds of family homes earmarked at Lawley West alone, where most installs are straightforward [16].
Check the claim before you book. Ask the firm for its registration or certificate number, then type it into the SSAIB company search, the NSI Company Finder, the BAFE register check or the SIA contractor register, and confirm the name that comes back is the business you are hiring [1] [2] [5] [6]. A logo on a van proves nothing on its own. After a certificated install you should receive a certificate of compliance for the system, and your installer can register a monitored alarm for a response number with your local force [3].
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same written scope, so you compare like with like. Each quote should name the panel and detectors, or the cameras and recorder, plus the cable runs, the labour, any monitoring or maintenance charges and whether VAT is included. One firm in this round publishes its guarding rates openly, which shows the standard to expect. Anyone quoting a full system without visiting the property or studying its entry points is guessing.
A typical domestic job runs the same course. First contact is a call or form with your address, the entry points and what you want covered, and a serious firm follows with a survey visit. The survey produces the itemised quote described above. On the day the engineer walks the cable routes with you before drilling, fits and tests each detector and camera, then demonstrates the set and unset routine. Sign-off is the handover pack in the final paragraph below, with a test call to the receiving centre where monitoring applies.
Decide on monitoring and maintenance before you sign. A bells-only alarm makes a noise and flashes a light, while a monitored alarm also alerts a receiving centre around the clock, which can call you, a keyholder or, for graded systems with a response number, the police. Maintenance is usually a yearly visit plus call-out cover, and your installer should demonstrate the system at handover, including how to avoid false alarms [3]. Agree what happens when the broadband or power drops if your system leans on either.
On completion, collect the paperwork and keep it with your insurance documents: the certificate of compliance for the install, the monitoring contract with its monthly terms, the maintenance terms with response times, and the written guarantee for equipment and labour. Test the system with the engineer present, store the engineer code separately from the user code, and confirm who to call when it faults out of hours.
Pricing
As of summer 2026, a basic bell-only wireless alarm typically starts from around £525 supplied and installed, a smart alarm with app control sits near £650, and a monitored install runs £700 to £1,800 plus £15 to £35 a month [7] [9]. An alarm technician's time goes for roughly £60 to £80 an hour [7]. Telford sits near the Midlands baseline rather than London prices, so treat the top of national ranges with suspicion [10].
CCTV costs more because of cameras, cable runs and recording. A four-camera wired system with a recorder typically runs £700 to £1,500 supplied and fitted, with one national guide putting a basic four-camera wired install from £800 before VAT [8] [10]. A four-camera wireless set-up comes in near £450 before VAT, and a yearly check-up starts from around £100 [8].
What moves the price most is coverage: the number of detectors or cameras, wired runs through finished rooms, outbuildings and gates, and extras such as monitoring, smart integration and stronger night vision. Annual maintenance for a home alarm starts from around £120 a year with one emergency call-out included at some firms [9]. Commercial sites and farms cost more because the cable runs are longer and the grading is stricter.
Ask whether VAT sits on top, since published guide prices exclude it [7] [8]. Firms in this round mostly route enquiries through quote forms and publish almost no example prices, so insist on a fixed written quote after a site survey that lists the equipment, the labour, the monitoring terms and the guarantee. Never accept a single headline figure with nothing behind it.
Servicing plans are the quiet second purchase. Most cover a yearly visit with batteries and minor parts, plus an agreed call-out allowance when the panel faults. What moves the price is the age of the system, whether the panel is still supported, how many devices sit on it and how fast the call-out promises an engineer. Compare the plan wording beside the price, since parts excluded can dwarf the visit fee.
At the specialist ends, pricing works differently. A safe installation turns on the model's grading and bulk, how far it travels and whether stairs or tight access slow the crew, so expect supply and fitting to appear as separate lines. Guarding and keyholding are the one corner of this round with open rates, and the published keyholding and alarm-response figures give commercial buyers a real benchmark before the site survey sharpens the quote.
Red flags
Prices a full alarm or CCTV system without visiting the property or asking for photos and the layout of the entry points.
Cannot give a scheme number or certificate you can check yourself on the SSAIB, NSI, BAFE or SIA search [1] [2] [5] [6].
Hands over one headline figure with no breakdown of equipment, labour, monitoring and VAT.
Asks for full payment in cash before the work starts, with no written terms.
Finishes a monitored install with no certificate of compliance and no mention of registering the system for a response [3].
Sells monitoring with no named receiving centre and no monthly terms in writing.
Will not put the scope, price and start date in writing before lifting a tool.
Prices cameras that will see the street or a neighbour's garden without mentioning a recording notice or how the footage is kept.
Quotes a safe or graded product with no model number or certificate you could match against the maker's paperwork.
The bottom line
For most Telford homes, start with Archer Security: one certificated installer for alarms, CCTV, gates and access control, with free quotes and a contact line answered round the clock.
Match the firm to the job around it. Businesses needing guards or keyholding should talk to Business Watch, homes and farms wanting alarms and CCTV should compare SSAFE with Phoenix, schools and workplaces with fire systems should include ABC, and anyone buying a safe should start with SMP.
Get two or three itemised quotes on the same written scope, check any registration number on the scheme search yourself, and keep the completion certificate with your insurance papers.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.