Our story

Kelpie started because the base was always the corner being cut

Craig set up Kelpie Landscape & Build Ltd to do landscaping and groundworks the way he thought they should be done. He had seen too many driveways surfaced straight over a base that was never going to hold, and too many gardens finished to a deadline rather than to a standard.

He started Kelpie to offer clients something increasingly difficult to find: work carried out properly, with no shortcuts and no compromise on quality. By focusing on sound preparation, skilled workmanship and long-term durability, the company delivers projects that are built to last rather than simply built to look finished.

If the ground is right, the surface looks after itself.

We work across Hampshire, mainly around Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester, on driveways, patios, garden builds, groundworks, fencing and structures. Most of it is domestic, some of it is light commercial, and all of it is priced in writing before anything is booked in.

Kelpie is a new company, and we would rather say that plainly than dress it up. What is not new is the work itself: the teams, and the way a site is set out have all come from years of experience on the tools, and every job is quoted, dug and finished to the same quality regardless of its size.

Founded by: Craig
Based in: Hampshire
Working across: Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester

One team, four jobs, the same site

Kelpie does not subcontract the parts of a project that decide whether it lasts. The same team digs it out, bases it, surfaces it and plants it.

Site supervision

One person runs the job from the first survey to handover, sets the levels, keeps the programme honest and stays your single point of contact throughout.

Plant and groundworks

Machine operators handling excavation, muck away, footings, drainage and sub-base, compacted in layers rather than in one pass.

Surfacing and paving

The team laying resin bound, block paving, tarmac, porcelain and natural stone, working to falls that were set before the base went in.

Landscaping and structures

Retaining walls, steps, fencing, gates, decking, turf and planting, so the garden is finished rather than left for somebody else to tidy.

Every trade above is directly employed or works with Kelpie on every job, not booked in for the week. That is why the team who quoted the work is the team who turns up to do it.

Insured, licensed and safe on site

The paperwork side of a job matters most on the day something goes wrong. Here is what is in place before we bring a machine onto your property.

Public liability insurance

Cover in place for every job, on your property and on the highway. The certificate is sent with the quote, not produced afterwards.

Licensed waste carrier

Spoil, hardcore and green waste leave site legally and go to a licensed tip, with transfer notes kept for the job.

Safe working practices

Services checked before we dig, excavations made safe overnight, plant operated by trained hands and the site left tidy each evening.

If your project needs anything beyond the above, tell us at the survey and we will confirm in writing what is covered before the work is booked in.

Ask about cover

The standard is written down, not described

Depths, materials, falls and drainage are specified in the quote before the job starts, so there is a written standard to hold the finished work against.

A written guarantee on every install

Every completed job comes with a workmanship guarantee in writing, covering the build itself rather than only the manufacturer cover on the materials. You get it with the handover paperwork, not on request.

Aftercare once the job is done

We hand over with plain advice on looking after the surface: what to clean it with, what to keep off it, and how long to leave new turf, planting or jointing before use.

We come back if something is wrong

If something moves, settles or fails within the guarantee, tell us and we return to put it right. That is the whole point of doing the groundworks ourselves: there is nobody else to point at.

Snags are dealt with before we ask for the final payment, not after it.

Guarantee length to be confirmed

Built by people who dig the base first