Commercial Property in Lancashire: Preston, Blackburn, Blackpool and the M65 Corridor (2026)
Lancashire's commercial property market is anchored by Preston — the county town with growing professional services and public sector demand — and the M65 East Lancashire corridor, which serves Blackburn, Burnley, and Pendle as the county's primary industrial spine. Blackpool provides a distinctive coastal economy shaped by entertainment, tourism, and significant regeneration investment.
Lancashire is a county of two halves: the western coastal plain, where Preston, Blackpool, and the Fylde Coast serve tourism, public sector, and professional services demand; and the East Lancashire industrial corridor along the M65, where Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, and Nelson maintain a significant manufacturing and logistics base.
Preston
Preston is Lancashire's county town and its principal professional services, public sector, and commercial centre. The city benefits from M6, M55, and M65 access, direct services to Manchester Piccadilly (approximately 35 minutes) and London Euston (approximately 2 hours 15 minutes), and significant public sector employment (Lancashire County Council, UCLAN, Preston's NHS hospitals).
Prime Preston office rents range from approximately £16–£22 per sq ft. The City Regeneration Programme is transforming the city centre, with developments at Animate, the Harris Cultural Quarter, and Guildhall Arch.
The M65 East Lancashire Corridor
The M65 East Lancashire motorway corridor — connecting Preston to Burnley via Blackburn, Accrington, and Nelson — is Lancashire's primary industrial spine, hosting significant manufacturing, textiles, engineering, and distribution businesses. Key development activity includes:
- Wingates, Bolton (adjacent to the Lancashire/Greater Manchester border) — the £17.1 million logistics hub with planning for up to 800,000 sq ft
- A 65-acre greenfield development site near Blackburn with planning for up to 800,000 sq ft of warehouse/industrial accommodation. Development commenced Q1 2025, initially delivering infrastructure and a first unit of approximately 145,000 sq ft
- High-quality warehouse/distribution units at Junction 7 of the M65 (Blackburn), with Squires Gate Industrial Estate in Blackpool serving the coastal market
- Build-to-suit logistics opportunities with detailed planning consent — 0.8 miles from the M65 and 10 minutes to the M6/M61
Prime industrial rents in East Lancashire range from approximately £8–£12 per sq ft for new development.
Blackpool
Blackpool is the UK's most visited coastal resort — approximately 18 million visitors per year — and one of the UK's most distinctive commercial property markets: shaped almost entirely by the entertainment, hospitality, tourism, and gaming industries. The Blackpool Tower, Winter Gardens, and the Pleasure Beach anchor a hospitality economy that generates significant commercial space demand but has limited mainstream office or logistics requirements.
Squires Gate Industrial Estate and the airport business park area provide the primary industrial and logistics accommodation in Blackpool, with units on Squires Gate Lane serving a mix of light industrial, storage, and airport-adjacent businesses.
Blackpool Regeneration: Major public investment — including the £250 million Blackpool Tourism Business Improvement District scheme and significant town centre investment through the Levelling Up Fund — is improving the commercial quality of the resort.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is driving industrial demand in East Lancashire?
East Lancashire's industrial demand is driven by a combination of legacy manufacturing (textiles, engineering, and food production), the M65 motorway providing North-South links via the M6 and East-West links via the M62/M61, and growing last-mile logistics demand serving the county's population centres. Supply constraints are emerging in the best-connected M65 locations, driving new speculative and design-and-build development at Junction 7 (Blackburn) and near Preston.
Looking for commercial space in Lancashire? Post your requirement on RE:match — landlords and agents will respond directly.
About RE:match
RE:match is the UK's reverse commercial property marketplace — where business owners post what space they need and landlords respond. Founded by a RICS-qualified chartered surveyor, our platform is built around how commercial property deals really get done.
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