Leicester is the largest city in the East Midlands and has the region's second-largest economy after Nottingham. Its business base is unusually broad: clothing and footwear makers in the garment district, national retailers such as Next, Dunelm, Shoe Zone and Topps Tiles with principal offices or significant sites here, engineering firms, Everards brewing, and professional and insurance offices. In 2024 the Good Growth for Cities Index rated it the best performing city in the East Midlands and 20th of 52 UK cities.
Business Mortgages Broker arranges commercial mortgages for trading companies across Leicester. We are a broker, not a lender: we find the lenders whose criteria fit your accounts and building and present the case to them. The loan is secured on premises your company occupies. It is not a residential mortgage.
Owner-occupier mortgages for Leicester, Leicestershire's makers
The city has a long association with textiles, clothing and footwear. Corah, Liberty Shoes and Equity Shoes have gone, but Next and Boden remain active, ASOS and New Look manufacture in the city, and higher shipping costs and longer lead times from Asia have brought some textile production back. The garment district is home to more than 1,000 factories.
For a manufacturer buying its building, lenders look at the trading accounts first, then at the property. Older multi-storey factories can be harder to value than single-storey units, and a lender will expect the building to meet fire and health and safety requirements. A clean set of accounts and a well-maintained building make the strongest application. Our business mortgages page explains the assessment.
Leicester's garment makers, wholesalers and shopkeepers
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Leicester share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 2,140 | 13.6% | 9.4% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 1,405 | 8.9% | 13.9% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 1,160 | 7.4% | 6.3% |
| Health and social care | 1,145 | 7.3% | 5.7% |
| Construction and building trades | 1,120 | 7.1% | 12.5% |
| Wholesale | 1,100 | 7% | 3.7% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 1,065 | 6.8% | 4.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 1,025 | 6.5% | 2.1% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 1,015 | 6.4% | 4.2% |
- 14.6xinsurance and pensions410 businesses
- 12.8xclothing manufacturing205 businesses
- 6.4xtextile manufacturing140 businesses
- 3.1xfinancial and insurance support services505 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Leicester has one of the most distinctive business profiles in the Midlands. Clothing manufacture runs at 12.84 times the UK share and textiles at 6.44 times, while wholesale firms make up 7% of the city's 15,765 business units against 3.7% nationally. Many of these firms trade from older factory and warehouse buildings in the inner city, and lenders look closely at condition and alternative use when valuing them.
Shops are the other big group, at 13.6% of businesses against 9.4% across the UK, so retail freeholds, often with flats above, make up a large part of the city's commercial stock.
Buying retail and restaurant premises in Leicester, UK
The centre has two large malls, Highcross Leicester, which opened in 2008, and the Haymarket Shopping Centre, open since 1974. Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered market in Europe, and St Martin's Square and the Leicester Lanes hold designer and specialist shops and several Victorian arcades. On Belgrave Road, the Golden Mile is known for Indian restaurants, sari shops and jewellers.
Independent retailers and restaurants buying their own building are priced as trading businesses where the value depends on trade, typically 7.0 to 9.0% a year for licensed and hospitality premises, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Shops with flats above are semi-commercial. 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. See semi-commercial premises for how lenders treat these buildings.
Leicester's commercial property count, 2016 to 2026
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 warehouse4,360properties on the rating listUp 5.3% since 2016Average rateable value £21,400factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices2,090properties on the rating listUp 9.4% since 2016Average rateable value £15,100offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail3,800properties on the rating listUp 1.9% since 2016Average rateable value £20,300shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial2,350properties on the rating listUp 1.7% since 2016Average rateable value £46,300pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
Leicester estates and business parks, Abbey to Jarvis Street
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Leicester, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Colton Square Business ParkLeicester LE1 1QH
- Jarvis Street Industrial EstateLeicester LE3 5BN
- Unit 8 Abbey Business ParkAbbey Business Park, Leicester LE1 3BW
- Abbey Business ParkLeicester LE1 3BW
- Friars Mill Business CentreLeicester LE3 5BJ
- Highfiields Industrial EstateLeicester LE2 0UB
- Blackbird Industrial ParkLeicester LE4 0ET
- Empire Industrial EstateLeicester LE4 6BY
- Ulverscroft Business CentreLeicester LE4 6BY
- Faircharm Industrial EstateLeicester LE3 2BU
- Clarendon Business ParkLeicester LE2 6AN
- Mahal Business ParkLeicester LE5 4HJ
The city's rating list has changed less than you might expect. Total stock is up 4.3% to 12,600 entries, with offices growing 9.4% and industrial premises 5.3%. Industrial units here carry a modest average rateable value of £21,400, close to the retail figure of £20,300. That suits the many small makers and wholesalers buying a single unit, where the valuation rests on similar buildings close by.
What premises finance costs in the Leicester area
Indicative owner-occupier pricing is 6.0 to 7.5% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation, at 70 to 75% loan to value over 5 to 25 years. Security is a first legal charge registered at HM Land Registry, usually with directors' guarantees.
Illustrative example. A Leicester clothing manufacturer buys a freehold factory for £500,000. A 75% loan is £375,000 and the deposit £125,000. Stamp Duty Land Tax at HMRC non-residential rates is £2,000 on the second slice and £12,500 on the portion above £250,000, so £14,500, rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy. Our stamp duty guide has the full bands.
Road, rail and air links that shape a commercial property loan in Leicester, England
Leicester sits at the midpoint of the M1, served by junctions 21, 21A and 22, where it meets the M69 and A46 corridor towards Coventry and Newark-on-Trent. The A6, A50, A47 and A607 meet here, and East Midlands Airport at Castle Donington, a national hub for mail and freight, is about 20 miles away. Distribution, wholesale and manufacturing firms benefit from that position, and valuers recognise well-connected units. For the market towns beyond the city, see our Leicestershire commercial mortgages page.
Leicester districts and business areas we cover
The Golden Mile, Belgrave Road
A stretch of Belgrave Road known for Indian restaurants, sari shops and jewellers, and the focus of Leicester's Diwali celebrations. Owner-occupiers here are mostly restaurateurs, jewellers and specialist retailers buying the shop they trade from, often with storage or living space above.
St Martin's Square and the Lanes
The city's designer and specialist shopping quarter, with several Victorian arcades. Period buildings with shopfronts and upper floors attract independent fashion, lifestyle and food businesses that want a long-term base in the centre.
Garment district
Home to more than 1,000 clothing factories. Manufacturers buying their building here will find lenders focus on the condition of older industrial premises and the strength of the company's customer contracts.
Belgrave
Where Parker Plant began making quarrying equipment in 1911 inside a single railway arch. The area mixes industrial and retail premises, giving engineers and wholesalers options for owning workshops close to the centre.
Beaumont Leys
In the north of the city, where Trelleborg makes industrial suspension components. Its industrial premises suit manufacturers and distributors wanting modern units with access to the city's main roads.
