Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council was established on 1 April 2015, taking over from three predecessors: Armagh City and District Council, Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council. Elections were held on 22 May 2014 and the new body worked as a shadow authority until the district formally began. It covers some very different places: Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland; Portadown on the River Bann, once called the "hub of the North"; and Craigavon, the planned town begun in 1965 between Portadown and Lurgan.
We are a commercial mortgage broker, never the lender. We arrange business mortgages for limited companies anywhere in the borough that want to buy, or refinance, the premises they trade from. It is finance on a company's own workplace, not a residential mortgage, and we match each case to the lenders whose criteria suit it.
What premises do companies in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district buy?
The borough has a long manufacturing history. Portadown was a major centre for linen in the 19th and 20th centuries, and its employers have included Irwin's Bakery, Ulster Carpets, which began making woollen Axminster there in 1938, and the meat processor Henry Denny and Sons, which moved to Corcrain after the Kerry Group bought it in 1982. Coleraine Cheddar is now made in Portadown too. Around those names sit food producers, engineers, hauliers and suppliers who need industrial units, yards and cold storage.
Armagh adds a different market: its Georgian streets, two cathedrals and the Armagh Observatory support professional offices, shops, cafés and hospitality. Craigavon's Highfield area has a large shopping centre, a courthouse and the district council headquarters. For a company buying the building it uses, see our page on owner-occupier mortgages, indicatively 6.0 to 7.5% a year, subject to status, accounts and valuation.
Orchards, food plants and furniture works: the borough's business mix
ONS UK Business Counts 2026, local units.
Show as a table
| Sector | Businesses | Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon share | UK share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farming, forestry and fishing | 2,530 | 23.1% | 4.5% |
| Construction and building trades | 1,430 | 13.1% | 12.6% |
| Retail | 1,030 | 9.4% | 9.4% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 695 | 6.3% | 13.7% |
| Manufacturing and engineering | 640 | 5.8% | 4.3% |
| Transport, logistics and storage | 575 | 5.2% | 4.2% |
| Wholesale | 470 | 4.3% | 3.7% |
| Motor trade and vehicle repair | 460 | 4.2% | 3% |
| Restaurants, cafes and pubs | 450 | 4.1% | 6.2% |
- 5.5xfarming2,520 businesses
- 2.6xglass, ceramics and building materials45 businesses
- 2.3xfood manufacturing85 businesses
- 2.0xfurniture making45 businesses
A figure of 2.0x means the trade makes up twice the share of local businesses that it does across the UK.
Almost a quarter of the borough's 10,980 businesses are farms: farming, forestry and fishing accounts for 23.1% of firms, more than five times the UK share, with 2,520 crop and livestock producers. That land-based economy feeds a manufacturing sector at 5.8% of firms, where food producers run at 2.27 times the national rate and furniture and machinery makers at almost twice it.
Professional services, by contrast, make up only 6.3%. Many premises here are on rural or edge-of-town sites, and a lender will check planning status, access and title carefully where a business has grown up on or next to farmland.
How do the M1 and the Belfast to Dublin line shape commercial property loans in north County Armagh?
Portadown earned its nickname because road, canal and rail all converged there. The Newry Canal, opened in the 1740s, linked Lough Neagh to Carlingford Lough until it closed to commercial traffic in 1936, and the railway station once had lines in four directions. Today only the Belfast to Dublin line remains. In Craigavon, the M1 motorway runs parallel to the Portadown to Lurgan railway north of Craigavon Lakes.
Armagh is the exception: it is the only city in Ireland without a rail service, and Portadown is its nearest station. Lenders do not refuse premises for being off the rail network, but they do weigh road access and the depth of the local occupier market when they value a unit. A well-placed building near the M1 corridor generally has a wider pool of future buyers.
What cash does buying business property in the ABC borough need?
Lenders active in owner-occupier lending typically advance 70 to 75% of price or valuation, up to 80% for strong cases, over 5 to 25 years with arrangement fees around 1 to 2%. The deposit, tax and fees come from the business. Northern Ireland pays Stamp Duty Land Tax; HMRC's non-residential bands are 0% to £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).
Illustrative example. A food processor buys a freehold factory unit on the edge of Portadown for £750,000. A 75% loan is £562,500, leaving a deposit of £187,500. SDLT on £750,000 comes to £27,000, so the company needs around £214,500 in cash before legal and valuation fees. A business that already owns its building and wants to release capital for new equipment can look at remortgaging business premises instead.
Who deals with planning and legal work for premises finance in the borough, Northern Ireland?
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council decides most local planning applications. Older consents may carry the name of one of the three former councils; your solicitor will check that the building's current use is covered. The lender's charge is registered through Land and Property Services, and both your solicitor and the lender's must be able to act on Northern Ireland security, which is a separate jurisdiction from England and Wales.
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. For other council areas see our business mortgages in Northern Ireland page, and the commercial stamp duty guide for the tax in full.
Owner-occupier lending in the borough's city and towns
Armagh
A city since 1994 and the county town of County Armagh, with 16,310 people in 2021. It is the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland. Professional practices, retailers and hospitality businesses buy period buildings in its Georgian centre.
Portadown
A town of about 22,000 on the River Bann, 24 miles south-west of Belfast, that grew with the railway and the linen trade. Its food, carpet and baking employers support a large base of industrial and distribution premises.
Craigavon
The planned settlement begun in 1965 beside two artificial lakes, with Brownlow, Mandeville and the Highfield centre. Its shopping centre and road layout suit retail, service and light industrial occupiers.
Lurgan
Lurgan sits on the north-east side of Craigavon and is part of the Craigavon Urban Area, which had 72,300 people. Its town-centre shops and its industrial edges near the M1 and the railway attract local manufacturers and retailers buying their own units.
Banbridge
The market town that gives the council the middle part of its name, and formerly the seat of Banbridge District Council. Retailers, trades and professional firms here typically buy single shops, offices and small workshops.
