Blackburn is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough, lying north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, 8 miles east of Preston. At the 2021 census it had 124,983 residents, within a borough of 154,922, making it the second-largest town in Lancashire after Blackpool. A former mill town, it has produced textiles since the mid-13th century and has seen significant investment and redevelopment since 1958, including European Regional Development Fund money.
A business mortgage is a long-term loan, secured on the premises a trading company occupies, that replaces rent with repayments on an asset the business owns. We arrange that finance as a broker; we do not lend. We present your accounts and the property to the lenders whose criteria fit and manage the process through to completion. It is not a residential mortgage. Blackburn appears with its neighbours on our Lancashire county page.
Buying retail and market premises in Blackburn town centre
The town centre has been the focus of multi-million pound investment. Blackburn with Darwen Council refurbished key public spaces, notably around Church Street and its Grade II listed Waterloo Pavilions. The Mall Blackburn, formerly Blackburn Shopping Centre, is the main shopping centre, and in June 2011 Blackburn Market moved into a new site beneath it. The bus station on Ainsworth Street opened in May 2016, with a new interchange built as part of the Cathedral Quarter redevelopment.
For independent retailers, food businesses, salons and professional firms, the question is often whether to keep renting or buy a freehold nearby. Our guide on rent versus buy for your business sets out the trade-offs. Town-centre shops with offices or flats above are common, and lenders price mixed buildings in the indicative 6.5 to 8.5% a year band, subject to status, accounts and valuation.
Blackburn's furniture makers, wholesalers and shops
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units. Figures are for the Blackburn with Darwen local authority area.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Blackburn share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 980 | 15% | 9.4% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 675 | 10.3% | 13.9% |
| Construction and building trades | 540 | 8.2% | 12.4% |
| Business support services | 535 | 8.2% | 8.1% |
| Health and social care | 505 | 7.7% | 5.6% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 485 | 7.4% | 4.3% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 465 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
| Wholesale | 420 | 6.4% | 3.7% |
| Motor trade and vehicle repair | 305 | 4.7% | 3% |
- 4.8xfurniture making65 businesses
- 2.0xfood manufacturing45 businesses
- 1.7xwholesale distribution420 businesses
- 1.7xhealthcare and medical practices310 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Furniture manufacturing runs at 4.8 times the UK share in Blackburn with Darwen, 65 businesses. Wholesale makes up 6.4% of the borough's 6,555 firms against 3.7% nationally, and manufacturing overall 7.4% against 4.3%. Shops account for 15%, and food manufacturers appear at 2.01 times.
Wholesalers and furniture makers buying warehouse space are assessed on turnover, stock and customer spread. Retailers buying town-centre shops are judged on takings and lease history, and lenders weigh how easily the unit could be relet.
Commercial property loans for manufacturers and trade firms in Blackburn with Darwen
Major employers include Blackburn College, Thwaites Brewery, BAE Systems at its Samlesbury Aerodrome site to the north-west, the borough council and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, based at the Royal Blackburn Hospital. Drumstone Trade Park, near the town centre, has trade outlets. Across the wider borough, Crown Paints is based in Darwen.
Manufacturers, builders' merchants, motor trade businesses and suppliers to the hospital and aerospace sites are the typical buyers of industrial premises. Some sites sit on steep ground, since the town is in the East Lancashire Hills, so access and loading can affect a valuation. A standard owner-occupied unit is indicatively priced at 6.0 to 7.5% a year at 70 to 75% loan to value, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Read how lenders assess a case on our business mortgages page.
Blackburn with Darwen: industrial stock up 75.2%
Valuation Office Agency, non-domestic rating stock of properties, March 2026. Figures for the Blackburn with Darwen council area. Average rateable value is the VOA's estimate of annual rent, not a sale price.
- Industrial and warehouse3,820properties on the rating listUp 75.2% since 2016Average rateable value £14,000factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices1,450properties on the rating listUp 16% since 2016Average rateable value £9,200offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail1,810properties on the rating listUp 2.3% since 2016Average rateable value £14,400shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial1,350properties on the rating listUp 9.8% since 2016Average rateable value £28,100pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
Blackburn's estates, from Furthergate to Appleby
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Blackburn, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Stable Business ParkBlackburn BB1 5BY
- Appleby Business ParkBlackburn BB1 3BL
- Fort Street Industrial EstateBlackburn BB1 5DP
- Thompson St Industrial EstateBlackburn BB2 1TX
- Hamilton Street Industrial EstateBlackburn BB2 4AJ
- Furthergate Business ParkUnit 24 Harwood St, Blackburn BB1 3BS
- Wensley Fold Business ParkBlackburn BB2 1WD
- Futuregate Business ParkBlackburn BB1 3BD
- Stancliffe Street Industrial EstateBlackburn BB2 2QR
- Rosewood Business ParkBlackburn BB1 8ET
- Phoenix Business ParkBlackburn BB1 5PF
- Roe Lee Industrial EstateRoe Lee, Blackburn BB1 9SU
Industrial entries on the Blackburn with Darwen rating list rose from 2,180 to 3,820, up 75.2%, but the average rateable value is just £14,000. Offices grew 16% and average only £9,200. Total stock is up 31.1%. That leaves a large pool of affordable units for small manufacturers and wholesalers, and a wide spread of comparable buildings for a valuer to draw on.
Premises finance in Blackburn, England: tax, security and planning
Planning sits with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, one of Lancashire's two unitary authorities. The lender takes a legal charge registered at HM Land Registry, and the purchase pays Stamp Duty Land Tax at the non-residential rates.
Illustrative example. A builders' merchant buys a freehold trade counter for £325,000. At 75% loan to value the loan is £243,750 and the deposit £81,250. SDLT at HMRC rates as at October 2026 comes to £5,750: 2% on the £100,000 slice above £150,000 (£2,000), plus 5% on the £75,000 above £250,000 (£3,750). See our guide to commercial stamp duty for how the bands work.
The station sits in the town centre on the Ribble Valley line between Clitheroe and Manchester Victoria and on the East Lancashire Line towards Burnley, Preston and Blackpool North, which helps office and retail occupiers recruit across the area.
Blackburn areas and neighbouring towns
Cathedral Quarter and Church Street
The heart of the regenerated centre runs from the Cathedral Quarter, with its new transport interchange, to Church Street and the listed Waterloo Pavilions. Shops, cafés, offices and food businesses here benefit from the investment in public spaces, and older buildings often combine a ground-floor trade with space above.
Drumstone Trade Park
Close to the town centre, Drumstone Trade Park has trade outlets serving builders, installers and the motor trade. It is the kind of location where an established trade business moving to its own freehold unit can stay close to its customers while gaining yard and loading space.
Whitebirk and Feniscowles
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal crosses the town from Feniscowles in the south-west to Whitebirk in the north-east. The canal corridor at both ends of town is lined with older industrial and warehouse buildings, which suit manufacturers and distributors that need space more than a town-centre address.
Darwen
South of Blackburn and part of the same unitary borough, Darwen is home to Crown Paints. The A666 links it north to Blackburn and south to Bolton, so manufacturers and trade suppliers here can reach both East Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
Samlesbury
To the north-west, BAE Systems' Samlesbury Aerodrome is one of the town's major employers and part of the Lancashire Enterprise Zone. Engineering and component suppliers look for workshops within easy reach of the airfield, and AB InBev also brews at Samlesbury, adding demand from food, drink and logistics firms.
