St Helens is a large town in Merseyside with a population of 117,308, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, which had 183,200 residents at the 2021 Census. It lies 13 miles east of Liverpool and 23 miles from the centre of Manchester, 6 miles north of the River Mersey. Coal mining, glassmaking, chemicals, copper smelting and sail making drove its growth through the Industrial Revolution, and Pilkington remains the town's one large industrial employer.
A business mortgage is a long-term loan secured on the premises a trading company occupies. We arrange that loan; we never lend it. We take the company's accounts and the property to the lenders whose criteria fit and manage the case through to completion. This is commercial finance for business premises, not a residential mortgage. St Helens is one of the towns on our Merseyside page.
Owner-occupier mortgages near Haydock, the M6 and the East Lancashire Road
Its central position has shaped the town's economy. The M58 and M62 run to the north and south, and the M57 and M6 to the west and east. M6 junction 23 at Haydock serves traffic in both directions, junction 24 at Ashton in Makerfield gives partial access, and the M62 is reached at junction 7, Rainhill Stoops. The A580 East Lancashire Road, a dual carriageway built between 1929 and 1934 to carry traffic from Manchester to the Liverpool docks, runs north of the centre through Haydock.
Hauliers, distributors, wholesalers and trade businesses buy yards and warehouses near those junctions, and owning the site protects them from a landlord's decision on a location that would be hard to replace. Indicative pricing for an owner-occupied warehouse or unit is 6.0 to 7.5% a year at 70 to 75% loan to value, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Our business mortgages page explains what lenders check.
Hauliers, fabricators and care homes: who trades in St Helens
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units. Figures are for the St. Helens local authority area.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | St Helens share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction and building trades | 825 | 14.5% | 12.5% |
| Retail | 715 | 12.5% | 9.3% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 605 | 10.6% | 13.9% |
| Business support services | 460 | 8.1% | 8.2% |
| Health and social care | 415 | 7.3% | 5.7% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 400 | 7% | 4.2% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 375 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 320 | 5.6% | 4.3% |
| Personal and other services | 265 | 4.6% | 4.1% |
- 2.0xpostal and courier services135 businesses
- 1.8xresidential care110 businesses
- 1.8xfabricated metal products70 businesses
- 1.6xwarehousing and logistics75 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
St Helens is a transport town. Logistics firms make up 7% of its 5,695 business units, 1.67 times the UK share, and courier operators run at more than double the national rate. Warehousing and fabricated metal work are both well above average too. These occupiers need yard space, loading doors and eaves height, and owning that building protects them from rent reviews on a site close to the motorway. Retail is also heavier than usual at 12.5% of firms against 9.3% across the UK, while residential care homes run at 1.77 times the national share.
Industrial property finance in St Helens, Lancashire's old glassmaking town
Glass no longer employs the numbers it once did, but it still employs over a thousand people. The Pilkington works, founded in 1826, dominates the industrial quarter and produces all of the UK's flat glass. Many former employers have gone, including Beechams, Ravenhead Glass, United Glass Bottles, Triplex and Greenall's brewery, and investment is turning former industrial land into hotels, shops and housing.
For manufacturers and engineers, that leaves a mix of modern units and older industrial buildings. Lenders lend on the valuation, and a building on land with an industrial past may need an environmental report before a lender will proceed, so factor that into the timetable and budget. Moving a production business is disruptive; our guide on moving premises without killing cash flow covers how to plan it.
Industrial stock in St Helens carries the weight
Valuation Office Agency, non-domestic rating stock of properties, March 2026. Figures for the St. Helens council area. Average rateable value is the VOA's estimate of annual rent, not a sale price.
- Industrial and warehouse1,440properties on the rating listUp 10.8% since 2016Average rateable value £54,200factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices740properties on the rating listUp 10.4% since 2016Average rateable value £14,100offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail1,570properties on the rating listDown 1.9% since 2016Average rateable value £18,900shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial1,070properties on the rating listUp 5.9% since 2016Average rateable value £32,900pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
St Helens estates from Chalon Way to The Barge Business Park
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near St Helens, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Chalon Way Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA10 1AU
- Lawrenson Street Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA10 2PL
- Westside Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 3AT
- Jackson Street Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 3AT
- Collins Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 1DH
- Eastside Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 3AS
- The Barge Business ParkSaint Helens WA9 1HZ
- East Side Eastside Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 3AS
- Alexandra Business ParkSaint Helens WA10 3HG
- Sutton Oak Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 3PH
- Fleet Lane Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 1TA
- Sutton Fold Industrial EstateSaint Helens WA9 3GL
The rating list confirms the industrial tilt. Units are up 10.8% since 2016 to 1,440, and their average rateable value of £54,200 is far above the £18,900 for a shop, a sign that large distribution sheds sit in the mix. A buyer of a smaller workshop should expect the valuer to set those big sheds aside and find closer comparables. Offices grew 10.4% from a low base, and retail slipped 1.9%.
Retail premises finance in St Helens town centre
The shopping area is centred on St Helens Minster, the original site of St Mary's open market. Church Street is the main high street, Church Square shopping centre surrounds the Minster on three sides, and Bridge Street, Duke Street and Westfield Street are lined with independent specialists. The council bought Church Square in 2017 for £26.6m as part of its regeneration plans, and the Hardshaw Centre closed in August 2024 after its retailers moved into Church Square. Outside the centre, St Helens Retail Park and Ravenhead Retail Park sit either side of the St Helens Linkway.
Planning sits with St Helens Borough Council. The lender takes a legal charge registered at HM Land Registry, and the purchase pays Stamp Duty Land Tax. Illustrative example. An independent retailer buys a freehold shop on Bridge Street for £200,000. A 75% loan is £150,000, leaving a £50,000 deposit, and SDLT at HMRC rates as at October 2026 is £1,000, being 2% on the £50,000 above the £150,000 nil-rate band. Our guide to commercial stamp duty shows how larger purchases are taxed.
St Helens districts and neighbouring areas
Ravenhead
Ravenhead saw successive closures when United Glass Bottles and Ravenhead Glass folded. The old UGB site now holds the St Helens RLFC stadium and a large Tesco Extra, and Ravenhead Retail Park houses mainstream retailers and restaurants. Trade and leisure businesses look here for space close to the Linkway.
Town centre and Church Street
Around the Minster, Church Street and Church Square form the main retail core, with Bridge Street, Duke Street and Westfield Street home to independent shops. With the council owning Church Square and the Hardshaw Centre closed, the centre is in transition, and freehold shops here suit established local traders.
Haydock
Haydock sits at M6 junction 23 and on the A580 East Lancashire Road, which makes it the borough's natural location for warehousing, distribution and trade counters. Buyers here are usually logistics and wholesale firms that need large yards and fast access north and south.
Eccleston and Moss Bank
Eccleston, one of the original townships, has a Morrisons and lies along the A580, while Moss Bank is a suburb about 4 km north of the centre with a community library. Both have local shops and service businesses that typically buy smaller freehold premises.
Sutton
Sutton is another of the four townships that formed the traditional shape of the town, alongside Windle, Eccleston and Parr. It has its own Morrisons and a mix of local retail and small commercial premises suited to service and trade businesses.
Earlestown
Earlestown, within the wider borough, has a Tesco superstore on a former Safeway site and its own small town centre. Local retailers, garages and trade firms here buy modest freeholds within reach of the M6 and the rest of the borough.
