Specialist commercial mortgage broker for owner-occupiers across Staffordshire, England

Few counties have such distinct industrial clusters. In the Potteries, Michelin makes tyres at Sideway, Wedgwood is at Barlaston, Steelite International is at Middleport beside the Trent and Mersey Canal, Churchill China is at Sandyford near Tunstall and Bet365 at Festival Park in Etruria is Stoke-on-Trent's largest private employer. Burton upon Trent is the brewing town, with Coors and Marston's, the Marmite factory and the original home of Branston Pickle on Burton Road.

Engineering runs right across the county. JCB is based at Rocester near Uttoxeter, GE Grid Solutions has its UK headquarters and a factory at Stafford, Bostik has its UK headquarters on Common Road, Mann+Hummel makes filters at Featherstone and Sumitomo Electrical Wiring Systems supplies the automotive industry from Silverdale. Ornua produces cheese at Leek.

Each of those names supports dozens of smaller suppliers, and those are the companies we expect to see buying their premises: kiln and ceramics specialists, brewery engineers, packaging firms, toolmakers and hauliers. Lenders assess them on trading history, profit cover and the building's appeal to another occupier. Our business mortgages page sets out those tests.

The West Coast Main Line runs through the county, with Stafford a junction for Birmingham New Street and Stoke-on-Trent the busiest station. Old airfields and collieries have become logistics parks. Fradley Park, on a former airfield, holds Newell Rubbermaid UK, a large Tesco distribution centre and Zytek. Birch Coppice Business Park south west of Tamworth, on the site of Birch Coppice Colliery before 1987, houses Bristan, an Ocado distribution centre and Volkswagen Group's main UK distribution facility.

For smaller operators, a unit on or near those parks offers road access that future buyers will pay for, which supports the valuation. The county's canals, including the Trent and Mersey, Coventry and Staffordshire and Worcestershire, are now chiefly a leisure asset for canal-side hospitality.

Staffordshire is in England, so a purchase pays Stamp Duty Land Tax at HMRC's non-residential rates: 0% on the first £150,000, 2% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above £250,000, rates as at October 2026; check the current rates before you buy. Our commercial property stamp duty guide has worked examples.

Planning is more fragmented than in most counties. Staffordshire comprises a non-metropolitan county with eight districts plus the Stoke-on-Trent unitary area, so the planning authority depends on exactly where the site is. Sectors of three green belt areas fall within the county, and every district contains some, which can restrict extensions or new buildings. The lender's security is a first legal charge at HM Land Registry.

Illustrative example. A Staffordshire manufacturer buys a freehold works for £800,000. A 75% loan is £600,000 and the deposit £200,000. SDLT is £2,000 plus £27,500, a total of £29,500, payable in cash. Owner-occupier pricing is indicatively 6.0 to 7.5% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation.

The county runs from the southern Pennines and Staffordshire Moorlands in the north, where Leek and Alton Towers are found, to Cannock Chase, parts of the National Forest and Kinver Edge in the south. Owners who bought years ago in any of these areas can refinance to release equity for expansion or to move to a new fixed rate, assessed on current accounts and today's value.

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.