Slough sits in the Thames Valley 20 miles west of central London, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25, with Heathrow Airport about 5 miles away. The town had 143,184 residents in 2021. Wikipedia notes that, other than London, it has the highest concentration of global company headquarters in the UK, and that Slough Trading Estate is the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe, with over 17,000 jobs in 400 businesses.
We are a broker. We arrange business mortgages for trading companies that want to buy or refinance their own premises in Slough, and we never lend money ourselves. This is finance for a company's working building, not a residential mortgage.
What do Slough, England companies buy with an owner-occupier mortgage?
Slough began with brickfields and nurseries, then grew around factories such as the Horlick's malted milk works near the station and the Mars plant established in 1932. Over the last twenty or so years the economy has shifted from manufacturing towards information-based work, and many factories have been replaced by offices. BlackBerry, McAfee, Burger King, DHL, Telefonica and Lego all have head offices here.
The owner-occupiers we hear from are the firms that service that base: freight forwarders and couriers wanting warehouse space close to Heathrow, food producers and wholesalers serving a diverse population, engineering and trade businesses buying light industrial units, and professional practices buying offices. The town's diversity also supports a wide range of independent retailers and food businesses, many of whom want to stop paying rent on the shop they already run. Our business mortgages page explains the basics.
Slough's hauliers, couriers and data firms
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Slough share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction and building trades | 975 | 12.7% | 12.5% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 965 | 12.6% | 4.2% |
| Information and communication | 910 | 11.9% | 6.2% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 785 | 10.2% | 13.8% |
| Retail | 755 | 9.8% | 9.3% |
| Business support services | 685 | 8.9% | 8.1% |
| Wholesale | 370 | 4.8% | 3.7% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 360 | 4.7% | 6.2% |
| Health and social care | 350 | 4.6% | 5.7% |
- 3.2xroad haulage and land transport530 businesses
- 3.2xwarehousing and logistics195 businesses
- 2.5xsoftware and IT services760 businesses
- 2.5xpostal and courier services225 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
No town in Berkshire leans on transport like Slough. Logistics firms make up 12.6% of its 7,670 business units, three times the 4.2% UK share, with road haulage at 3.23 times and warehousing at 3.17 times the national rate. Computer programming and consultancy also runs at 2.54 times. A haulier or courier that owns its depot close to Heathrow removes the risk of being priced out at lease end, and underwriting looks at contracts and accounts alongside the building. Wholesale and motor trade firms are above average too.
Can you buy rather than rent on the Slough Trading Estate and around the Slough area?
Because the Trading Estate is held in single private ownership, most of its occupiers rent. A company wanting to own its building therefore usually looks at the industrial and commercial property elsewhere in the town and its suburbs, or at a long leasehold interest where one is offered. A lender will fund a long lease if the unexpired term comfortably outlasts the loan, typically by a good margin, and if the ground rent and lease terms are acceptable.
Location still counts. Motorway access, Heathrow and express trains to London Paddington in 14 minutes make Slough premises easy for a valuer to compare, which helps the lender judge how readily a unit could be relet.
Fewer, larger industrial buildings in Slough
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 warehouse920properties on the rating listDown 11.5% since 2016Average rateable value £187,800factories, workshops, warehouses and trade units
- Offices730properties on the rating listDown 1.4% since 2016Average rateable value £71,100offices, including converted buildings
- Shops and retail970properties on the rating listUnchanged since 2016Average rateable value £32,400shops, showrooms and retail warehouses
- Other commercial840properties on the rating listUp 10.5% since 2016Average rateable value £50,300pubs, hotels, surgeries, nurseries, garages and more
Slough estates where firms own units: Langley to Mill West
Named estates and parks listed on Google Maps near Slough, October 2026. Listed to show where premises trade locally; we have no connection with the owners or agents.
- Slough Interchange Industrial EstateSlough SL2 5EP
- Brooklands Business CentreSlough SL2 5DY
- Mill West Industrial EstateSlough SL2 5AD
- Slough Business ParkDestructive, 94 Farnham Rd, Slough SL1 3FQ
- Langley Business ParkSlough
- Kingfisher Court Business Centre5, 281 Farnham Rd, Slough SL2 1JF
- Canal Wharf Industrial EstateSlough SL3 6EG
- Slough Trading EstateSlough SL1 7PB
- Seaborough Industrial EstateIver SL0 0HT
- Horton Trading EstateHorton Trading Est, Stanwell Rd, Horton, Slough SL3 9PF
- Fairacres Industrial EstateWindsor SL4 4LE
- Court Lane Industrial EstateIver SL0 9HL
Slough is one of the few places where industrial stock has shrunk, down 11.5% since 2016 to 920 units. Yet those units average £187,800 in rateable value, well over double the Berkshire figure, consistent with large modern sheds and data halls in the mix. For a smaller firm that makes close comparables scarcer, so valuation evidence matters more. Shop numbers are unchanged at 970.
What does a commercial property loan in Slough, Berkshire cost?
Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically go to 70 to 75% of value, with indicative pricing of 6.0 to 7.5% a year over 5 to 25 years, subject to status, accounts and valuation. Stamp Duty Land Tax applies: 0% to £150,000, 2% to £250,000 and 5% on the rest (rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy).
Illustrative example. A freight business buys a warehouse unit for £1,200,000. A 75% loan is £900,000, so the deposit is £300,000. SDLT works out at £49,500, meaning roughly £349,500 in cash before fees. The lender takes a first legal charge at HM Land Registry, and Slough Borough Council holds the planning record. 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 the Berkshire county page and our costs breakdown.
Neighbourhoods and estates in Slough
Slough Trading Estate
Created by Slough Estates Ltd from the 1920s, the estate insulated the town from many recessions and has housed hundreds of major companies drawn by Heathrow and the motorways. Slough Estates Ltd went on to run many more estates in the UK and abroad. Occupiers mostly rent, so purchase finance here usually involves a long lease.
Langley
Langley, an original village now a suburb in the east of Slough, is served by bus routes running to Heathrow. Its position between the town centre and the airport suits logistics, trade and service companies looking for industrial units and small business premises with quick access to the M4.
Colnbrook and Poyle
Colnbrook, where the Cox's Orange Pippin apple was first raised around 1825, and Poyle, historically in Middlesex, sit closest to Heathrow. Their nearness to the airport makes them natural territory for freight, storage and airport-supply businesses buying warehouse space.
Cippenham and Chalvey
Both were villages absorbed as Slough expanded along the Great West Road. Today they mix housing with local parades and small commercial buildings, where shopkeepers, takeaways and trades buy the premises they work from, often with a flat above that makes the purchase semi-commercial.
