Telford & Wrekin is a unitary council located in Shropshire, which borders North Wales and is surrounded by Cheshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Telford is located beside the M54, giving access to the M6 within 15 minutes and connectivity to the M5, M42 and M1. Telford is approximately 2 hours from London, 1 hour 45 minutes from Manchester and only 45 minutes from Birmingham.

Telford and Wrekin is rightly described as a place of contrasts – the rural and historic sitting alongside ‘new town’ housing and modern industrial estates. Given new town status in the 1960s, Telford has grown rapidly over the past 50 years around existing borough towns including Madeley, Wellington, Oakengates, Hadley and Dawley. Two thirds of the borough surrounding Telford is classified as rural, and includes the historic Ironbridge Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site, the symbol of the Industrial Revolution.

Our population is one of the fastest growing in the country, with growth of 15% between 2014 and the latest estimates for 2024 – the highest for a West Midlands upper tier local authority. As the population is growing it is ageing and becoming more diverse. Between 2014 and 2024 there was a 28% increase in the number of people aged 65+ in the borough – the fourth largest increase in any upper tier local authority. Census data showed that 17% of the population were from an ethnic minority in 2021 – up from 10% in 2011.

Telford and Wrekin is a place of socio-economic contrasts with parts amongst the most deprived, comparable with inner cities, and the least deprived nationally. We have 15 neighbourhoods (out of 115) in the 10% most deprived nationally and 4 in the 10% least deprived in England.

The Borough has a diverse manufacturing sector, a burgeoning tourism sector and research and development facilities. It has a strong focus on manufacturing - important sectors of the local economy include polymers and advanced engineering - as well as food and drink, construction and retail.

Telford is a regional and national focal point for both housing and job growth. 2014 saw the opening of Southwater: a £250m town centre development including a range of cultural, leisure, retail and event facilities, which has since been expanded with the addition of a new hotel and additional retail outlets.

In 2025 we were named as one of the 20 greenest places in the UK, with more than 2,500 hectares of green spaces and open areas. 90% of our Borough’s households are within 300m of accessible green spaces.

There are lots of ways to get around the Borough. There is an extensive public transport network, including buses and trains. There are also numerous cycle tracks, bridleways and footpaths. Telford and Wrekin is a great place to bring up a family, alongside the extensive range of leisure and cultural activities.