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 outside of the south east, with growth of 11% between the 2011 and 2021 census. We saw the number of households in the borough grow by 15% – the second largest increase by an English local authority. As the population is growing it is ageing and becoming more diverse. Between the 2011 and 2021 census there was a 65% increase in the number of people aged 65+ in the borough – the second largest increase in any upper tier local authority. It is estimated that 17% of the population are from an ethnic minority – 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 18 neighbourhoods in the 10% most deprived nationally and 8 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. Despite challenging conditions faced by the housing market, the borough has seen year on year growth in housing since 2007 and has been ranked as one of the fastest growing areas in the Centre for Cities report for the past three years. 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.

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.