Derby is a centre for advanced transport manufacturing. Rolls-Royce builds engines in the city, Alstom makes rolling stock at the Litchurch Lane Works and Toyota has its UK headquarters at Burnaston, just south-west of the boundary. Around those names sits a supply chain of machine shops, fabricators, test houses and logistics firms, and it is those smaller companies that most often ask us about buying their own premises.
We are Business Mortgages Broker, a broker rather than a lender. We arrange business mortgages for trading companies anywhere in Derby: finance secured on the building your company occupies, assessed on your trading accounts. It is not a residential mortgage and it is not buy-to-let.
Owner-occupier mortgages for the engineering base of the City of Derby
Derby's two biggest employers, Rolls-Royce and Toyota, are both engineering manufacturers, and Alstom and Triton Equity, which took over a boiler and heat-exchanger plant in 2014, add to that base. Infinity Park Derby is a planned business park for aerospace, rail and automotive technology next to the Rolls-Royce site at Sinfin, and in December 2014 the government announced it would gain enterprise zone status as part of the Nottingham Enterprise Zone.
For a supplier, owning the building can make sense once a contract is long enough to justify the fit-out: heavy power supplies, crane rails, clean rooms. Lenders will look at how concentrated your customer list is, so a firm with one dominant customer should expect questions. A modern unit that another engineer could take over is the strongest security. Our page on owner-occupier mortgages sets out how lenders assess trading companies.
Hauliers, couriers and clinics: who trades in Derby, East Midlands
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Derby share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific and technical | 1,210 | 12.7% | 14% |
| Construction and building trades | 1,065 | 11.2% | 12.6% |
| Retail | 1,040 | 10.9% | 9.3% |
| Health and social care | 755 | 7.9% | 5.6% |
| Business support services | 735 | 7.7% | 8.1% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 695 | 7.3% | 6.2% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 625 | 6.6% | 4.2% |
| Information and communication | 460 | 4.8% | 6.1% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 430 | 4.5% | 4.2% |
- 1.8xroad haulage and land transport370 businesses
- 1.5xhealthcare and medical practices400 businesses
- 1.4xmotor trade and vehicle repair405 businesses
- 1.4xpostal and courier services160 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Derby's 9,495 business units show a strong pull towards moving goods. Transport, logistics and storage firms make up 6.6% of the city's businesses against 4.2% nationally, with road haulage at 1.82 times the UK share and postal and courier operators at 1.43 times. A haulier buying a yard with a workshop and parking is a classic owner-occupier case, though the lender will want comfort that the site would sell to another operator.
Healthcare is the second theme. Health and social care is 7.9% of firms, so practices, clinics and care providers form a bigger slice of the city's business community than in most of the country.
Buying a shop or office in Derby city centre
Central Derby trades in three areas: the Cathedral Quarter, the St Peters Quarter and the Derbion shopping centre. The first two are Business Improvement Districts, and both are full of independent traders, cafés, restaurants, offices and banks in older buildings. Freehold shops and upper-floor offices come up here, often with flats or storage above.
A lender pricing a high-street building will consider the covenant of your business and how easily the space would re-let. A building with a flat above may be semi-commercial, and if you or a close family member will live there the loan may become regulated. Commercial lending to a limited company is unregulated and falls outside the FCA's regulated mortgage perimeter. Where a deal would be regulated, for example lending to a sole trader or individual, or a property where the borrower or a close family member will live in part of it, we refer it to an appropriately authorised firm.
Derby's industrial expansion on the rating list
Valuation Office Agency, non-domestic rating stock of properties, March 2026. Average rateable value is the VOA's estimate of annual rent, not a sale price.
- Industrial and warehouse2,650properties on the rating listUp 57.7% since 2016Average rateable value £30,200factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices1,840properties on the rating listUp 4% since 2016Average rateable value £15,900offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail2,260properties on the rating listUnchanged since 2016Average rateable value £25,900shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial1,650properties on the rating listDown 7.3% since 2016Average rateable value £46,600pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
From Boars Head to West Meadows: Derby's owner-occupied estates
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Derby, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Boars Head Industrial EstateDerby DE1 2BU
- Jubilee Business ParkDerby DE21 4BJ
- West Meadows Industrial EstateDerby
- Peter Baines Industrial EstateDerby DE22 3UD
- Derby Trading EstateDerby DE21 4BD
- Parker House Industrial EstateDerby DE21 4SZ
- Parker Centre Parker Industrial EstateDerby DE21 4SZ
- Empire Business ParkDerby DE1 1LY
- Masons Place Business ParkChaddesden, Derby DE21 6AQ
- Meteor Business ParkDerby DE21 4ST
- Robinsons Industrial EstateDerby DE23 8NL
- Osmaston Road Business ParkUnit 9 Osmaston Rd, Derby DE23 8LD
Few places show a jump like Derby's. Industrial premises on the rating list rose from 1,680 to 2,650, up 57.7%, while the other category, which covers pubs, leisure and specialist buildings, is down 7.3%. Offices grew only 4%. The average industrial rateable value is £30,200. For a company buying a unit, that expanded stock means more comparable evidence for the valuer and a wider choice of modern buildings than a decade ago.
How a commercial property loan is priced and secured in Derby, England
Indicative owner-occupier pricing is 6.0 to 7.5% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation, over terms of 5 to 25 years, at 70 to 75% loan to value and up to 80% for strong cases. The lender registers a first legal charge at HM Land Registry and usually asks for directors' guarantees.
Stamp Duty Land Tax applies at the non-residential rates. Illustrative example. A Derby fabrication company buys a freehold unit for £600,000. A 75% loan is £450,000, leaving a £150,000 deposit. SDLT is 2% on £100,000 (£2,000) plus 5% on £350,000 (£17,500), so £19,500, at HMRC rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy. Our costs page lists the other fees to budget for.
Why the Derby area's rail links matter to a premises purchase
The city is one of the country's main railway centres. East Midlands Railway runs inter-city services on the Midland Main Line to London St Pancras, Leicester and Sheffield, and CrossCountry links Derby with Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh. For businesses that sell nationally or recruit across the region, that reach supports the case for staying in one building for the long term, which is what a 15 or 20-year loan assumes.
For the wider county, including Chesterfield, Buxton and Swadlincote, see our Derbyshire business mortgages page.
Derby districts and business areas we cover
Cathedral Quarter
Derby's first Business Improvement District, centred on the cathedral, Irongate and Sadler Gate, and taking in the Market Place, the Guildhall and the Silk Mill museum. Independent shops, boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants make up most of the occupiers, so buyers here are usually retailers and hospitality operators acquiring period buildings.
St Peters Quarter
The city's second BID, brought in during 2011, running along Green Lane, Babington Lane, Osmaston Road, St Peters Street, London Road and East Street. It mixes independent traders with national retailers, pubs, banks and offices, giving owner-occupiers a choice of shop units and upper-floor office space.
Sinfin and Infinity Park Derby
Home to the Rolls-Royce site and the planned Infinity Park Derby for aerospace, rail and automotive technology. Sinfin Lane was also where International Combustion ran a 62-acre works from 1922. Engineering suppliers who want to be close to the main customer look here first.
Litchurch Lane
The Derby Litchurch Lane Works is where Alstom manufactures railway rolling stock. The surrounding area suits rail-sector suppliers and engineering service firms, where purchases tend to be workshops and light industrial units rather than offices.
Burnaston
South-west of the city, where Toyota has its UK headquarters and car plant. Automotive suppliers and logistics businesses serving the plant look for units within easy reach, and lenders are comfortable with well-located modern industrial buildings.
Spondon and Peartree
Both have local railway stations, Spondon on the Nottingham to Matlock route and Peartree on the Newark to Crewe line. They are part of the wider urban area where trade counters, garages and small industrial occupiers buy their own premises.
