Bolton Business Finance is an independent commercial finance broker working with businesses and property investors across Blackpool and the Fylde coast. We arrange commercial mortgages, hotel and guest house finance, bridging, development finance, business loans, asset finance, invoice finance and merchant cash advances. Our office is thirty five miles away, about fifty minutes via the M61 and M55.
We are the commercial mortgage broker Blackpool businesses can actually sit down with. We do not lend ourselves. We approach the lenders most likely to say yes to your particular case, and on a hotel or a guest house that matters more than almost anywhere else, because most lenders will not look at one at all.
Written by Marcus Wright, owner and founder of Bolton Business Finance Ltd, in financial services since 2008 and a commercial finance broker since 2019. Last reviewed September 2026.
On this page
- We will come to you in Blackpool
- Commercial mortgage broker Blackpool
- Hotels, guest houses and trading business valuations
- Bridging finance in Blackpool
- Buy to let and property investment in Blackpool
- Business loans and asset finance
- Development finance in Blackpool
- What we do not do
- Blackpool businesses we work with
- Meeting us in Blackpool
- Blackpool commercial finance FAQs
- Apply for commercial finance in Blackpool
The short version
- A commercial finance broker arranges funding for businesses from lenders across the market, rather than lending money itself.
- A commercial mortgage is a loan secured against property used for business purposes, either premises your own business trades from or a property you let to a tenant.
- A hotel or guest house is a trading business as well as a building, and lenders value it on the trade it can sustain rather than on the bricks and mortar alone.
- Lenders typically advance up to 70% of value on standard commercial property, but usually less on hotels and guest houses, commonly around 60% to 70%.
- A commercial mortgage in Blackpool usually takes 3 to 6 months from enquiry to completion, and hotel purchases often sit at the longer end.
We Will Come To You In Blackpool
Blackpool is about thirty five miles from Westgate House. The run is the M61 up to Preston then the M55 straight across, which is around fifty minutes on a clear morning. Lytham St Annes and Squires Gate come off the end of the M55, and for Cleveleys, Thornton and Poulton it is a few minutes further north.
It is the furthest of the towns we cover regularly and we still go, because on a hotel or a guest house there is no substitute for walking through it. Room count, condition, how much of the building is actually lettable, what the owner’s accommodation takes up, whether the kitchen would pass. Those things decide the valuation, and the valuation decides the loan.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Areas covered | Blackpool town centre, North Shore, South Shore, Bispham, Layton, Marton and Squires Gate, plus Lytham St Annes, Cleveleys, Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood |
| Distance from our office | About thirty five miles via the M61 and M55. Fifty minutes off peak, longer in summer and on illumination weekends |
| Products arranged | Commercial mortgages, hotel and guest house finance, bridging, development finance, business loans, asset finance, invoice finance, merchant cash advances |
| Lender panel | Over 135 lenders, from high street banks to specialist trading business and non-bank funders |
| Broker fee | None on most facilities, we are paid a disclosed commission by the lender. Property secured deals carry £495 upfront and 1% on completion |
| First meeting | Free, at your premises, your accountant’s office or ours |
| Regulatory status | Not FCA authorised. Non-regulated business finance only. No residential mortgages |
Commercial Mortgage Broker Blackpool
A commercial mortgage is a loan secured against property used for business purposes. That covers premises your own business trades from, and property you buy to let to a commercial tenant. Terms usually run 3 to 25 years, occasionally up to 30. Lenders typically advance up to 70% of value on commercial property and up to 75% on semi-commercial, meaning a shop or office with a flat above it.
Blackpool is different from the other towns we cover, because a large share of its commercial property is hospitality. Hotels, guest houses, holiday flats, bars, cafes, restaurants and amusement premises, concentrated along the promenade and the streets behind it. Those are not ordinary commercial buildings. They are trading businesses that happen to occupy a building, and lenders treat them accordingly. If you are buying one, the whole basis of the lending changes, and the next section explains how.
There is also a conventional commercial market here that gets overlooked. Industrial and trade units toward Squires Gate and out along the A583, offices and professional premises, retail parades in Bispham, Marton and out at Lytham. Those are assessed like commercial property anywhere and attract a much wider choice of lender than anything on the seafront does.
What decides your terms
- Property type. Standard industrial, offices and retail attract the widest choice. Hotels, guest houses, pubs, care homes and petrol stations attract specialists only.
- Whether you occupy and trade from it. On a hotel the lender underwrites the business, so the accounts matter as much as the building.
- Trading history. Two years of filed accounts opens most doors. A business you are buying with weak or incomplete records will narrow the field fast.
- Seasonality. A business earning most of its money between Easter and November has to demonstrate it services the debt across the whole year.
- Your own experience. First time operators face a much shorter lender list than someone already running a similar business.
- Condition and EPC. Commercial property let in England generally needs an EPC of E or better, and a lot of older seafront stock does not reach it.
Be realistic on timing. In our experience a commercial mortgage takes 3 to 6 months from first enquiry to completion, and a hotel or guest house purchase usually sits at the longer end because the valuation is more involved. If your deadline is weeks rather than months, bridging is usually the honest answer and we will say so.
Our main commercial mortgage broker page sets out lender appetite and typical loan to value by property type, from industrial and offices through to pubs, care homes, petrol stations and places of worship.
Hotels, Guest Houses and How Trading Businesses Are Valued
This is the part that catches almost everyone buying their first hotel or guest house in Blackpool, and it is worth understanding before you make an offer rather than after the valuation comes back.
A hotel is not valued the way a house or a warehouse is valued. There is no meaningful comparison with what the building next door sold for. Instead the valuer assesses what the business could reasonably be expected to earn under competent management, and works back from that to a capital figure. The trade is the asset. The building is where it happens.
- The valuation is based on sustainable trade, not the current owner’s figures. If the present owner is running it below its potential, that does not automatically increase the valuation. If they are running it exceptionally well, or taking bookings in ways that do not show in the accounts, the valuer will strip that back. Either way, the figure you get is rarely the figure the selling agent quoted.
- There is usually a second, lower figure. Alongside the going concern value, a valuer will often give a vacant possession value: what the building is worth empty, with no business attached. Where trade is weak or unproven, lenders may size the loan against that lower number. The gap between the two can be very large on a seafront guest house.
- Loan to value is lower than on standard commercial property. Where a shop or industrial unit might reach 70%, a hotel or guest house is commonly 60% to 70%, and toward the bottom of that for a first time operator or a business with patchy records. Budget the deposit on the cautious assumption.
- Seasonality has to be addressed, not hoped past. Blackpool trade is concentrated into the season and the illuminations. A lender will want to see how the business covers its costs in February. A business that only works on annualised figures, with no answer for the winter, is a much harder case.
- Most lenders do not do this at all. Trading business lending sits with a relatively small group of specialists, and going to your own bank first is usually six weeks lost. It also leaves a footprint on your file that the next lender can see.
If the plan is to change what the building does
A large amount of Blackpool’s older guest house stock has been converted to flats, shared housing or other residential use over the years, and more of it is being converted now. That is a different proposition entirely from buying a going concern. It is a development or refurbishment case, funded with bridging or development finance and exited onto a term product once the work is done and the units are let. Be clear at the outset which of the two you are actually doing, because applying for a hotel mortgage on a building you intend to gut and convert will fail, and it will fail slowly.
Bridging Finance in Blackpool
Bridging is short term property lending, usually three to eighteen months, priced monthly and repaid from a sale or a refinance. In Blackpool it comes up constantly, because so much of the stock is either in poor condition, mid conversion, or bought at auction, and none of those states suit a term lender.
- Buying at auction, where completion is fixed at twenty eight days
- Buying a property no mainstream lender will touch, typically no kitchen, no bathroom or serious damp
- Buying a closed or failed guest house to refurbish and either reopen or convert
- Buying ahead of the season when a term application cannot complete in time
- Raising working capital quickly against property already owned
The number that catches people out
Bridging lenders size the loan against the 180 day value, not the open market value. That is what the property would fetch in a forced six month sale, and it is routinely 10% to 20% below the figure in the valuation you paid for. On a closed guest house the discount can be steeper again, because the pool of buyers for an empty forty bedroom building on a side street off the promenade is genuinely small. Budget on the cautious figure.
Buy To Let and Property Investment in Blackpool
Blackpool consistently shows some of the highest headline rental yields in England, and it is worth understanding exactly where those numbers come from before acting on them. According to ONS and HM Land Registry data, the average house price in Blackpool was £135,000 in June 2026, up 7.2% on the year. Average private rent was £714 a month in July 2026, up 6.8% from £668.
Prices and rents rising at almost the same rate means the yield has held steady rather than moving, at roughly 6.4% gross across the town. That is a healthier position than markets where prices are running away from rents, and it is the most stable of the Lancashire and Greater Manchester towns we cover.
| Property type | Average price, June 2026 | Average rent, July 2026 | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flats and maisonettes | £75,000 | £562 | 9.0% |
| Terraced | £118,000 | £737 | 7.5% |
| Semi-detached | £158,000 | £805 | 6.1% |
| Detached | £235,000 | £972 | 5.0% |
A flat at £75,000 producing £562 a month looks like a 9% gross yield, and on those two numbers it is. It is also the figure we are asked about most and the one that needs the most caution, because that price point is concentrated in exactly the stock lenders are most wary of: small converted units in older seafront and inner area buildings, frequently leasehold, frequently with service charges that are not in the headline arithmetic, and often in blocks with a high proportion of short term or transient occupancy.
That shows up in two practical ways. Many buy to let lenders set a minimum property value, commonly around £75,000 to £100,000, which rules out a large slice of this market before criteria are even reached. And flats have had the weakest capital growth in the town at 3.4% over the year, against 7.9% for terraced. The terraced stock at around 7.5% gross is where the more reliable investment case sits, and it is the part of the Blackpool market with the widest lender choice.
Business purpose only
We arrange buy to let and property investment finance on a business basis only, through limited companies, partnerships and portfolio landlords. We are not FCA authorised and we do not arrange consumer buy to let, regulated buy to let or any residential mortgage. If the property is or will be lived in by you or a close family member, that is regulated business and you need an FCA authorised mortgage adviser instead. Holiday lets are assessed differently again from standard buy to let, so tell us which you mean.
Business Loans and Asset Finance in Blackpool
Across the UK, 99.18% of businesses employ fewer than 50 people and around three quarters employ nobody beyond the owners, according to the government’s Business Population Estimates for 2025. Blackpool’s business base sits firmly at that end, with a heavy weighting toward hospitality, retail and leisure.
What we arrange most often for Blackpool businesses:
- Merchant cash advances, repaid as a percentage of card takings, which suits seasonal hospitality and retail better than a fixed monthly repayment does
- Unsecured business loans, typically £10,000 to £500,000, decisions in days rather than weeks
- Asset finance, for commercial kitchen equipment, vehicles, plant and fit out, with nil deposit options and no broker fee
- Secured business loans, larger sums against property, slower but cheaper
- Invoice finance, releasing cash tied up in unpaid invoices, which suits contractors and suppliers rather than the consumer facing trade
Why seasonality changes which product suits
A business that takes most of its money in five months of the year and very little in the other seven is poorly served by a fixed monthly repayment, because the payment that is comfortable in August is the one that breaks it in February. A merchant cash advance flexes with takings, so it repays faster in season and slower out of it. That is not always the cheapest option on paper, and we will tell you when it is not, but for genuinely seasonal Blackpool trade it frequently fits the cash flow far better than a term loan does.
Development Finance in Blackpool
Development finance funds building work rather than a purchase. It is released in stages against a schedule of works, with a valuer signing off each drawdown, and it is repaid on sale or on refinance onto a term product once the scheme is finished and let.
The dominant scheme type in Blackpool is conversion: former guest houses and hotels turned into flats or shared accommodation. These are well understood by the lenders who do them, but the exit is scrutinised harder here than in most places, for a straightforward reason. With flats averaging £75,000 and showing the weakest price growth of any property type in the town, a conversion producing a large number of small units has to be very sure of the end value. Schemes that work on paper at an optimistic figure per flat come apart when the valuer applies the actual local evidence.
- Land or acquisition drawdown. Usually up to 60% to 70% of the purchase price, released on completion.
- Staged build drawdowns. Released in arrears against work completed and signed off by the lender’s monitoring surveyor.
- Practical completion. Final drawdown, and the point at which the exit route has to be real rather than intended.
- Exit. Sale of the units, or refinance onto a commercial mortgage or buy to let facility.
What We Do Not Do
Bolton Business Finance Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We arrange non-regulated commercial and business finance only. That means we cannot advise on or arrange residential mortgages, first time buyer mortgages, remortgages of your own home, consumer buy to let, equity release, or any consumer credit.
If you need any of those, use the FCA’s Financial Services Register to find an authorised adviser in your area. If you are a business owner, a hotel or guest house operator, a landlord holding property through a company, or a property investor funding on a commercial basis, then you are in the right place and we can help.
Blackpool Businesses We Work With
Blackpool’s enquiry mix is unlike anywhere else we cover, because the visitor economy shapes so much of it.
- Hotels, guest houses and serviced accommodation, along the promenade, North Shore and the streets behind the seafront. Commercial mortgages on a trading basis, refurbishment funding and seasonal working capital.
- Bars, restaurants, cafes and amusements, in the town centre and along the front. Merchant cash advances, fit out and equipment finance.
- Property investors and converters, buying older seafront and inner area stock to refurbish, convert or let. Bridging, development finance and portfolio refinancing.
- Trade, industrial and service businesses, around Squires Gate and the A583 corridor. Owner occupier commercial mortgages and asset finance.
- Construction and trades, across the Fylde coast, where the problem is nearly always the gap between doing the work and being paid for it.
Meeting Us in Blackpool
We do not have an office in Blackpool and we are not going to pretend otherwise. We are based at Westgate House in Bolton. Blackpool is the longest run of the towns we cover at around fifty minutes, and we still make the journey, because on hospitality property a site visit tells us things no set of particulars will.
Where we will meet you
- At the hotel or premises, anywhere in Blackpool, Lytham St Annes, Cleveleys, Thornton or Poulton. On a trading business this is genuinely worth the time.
- At your accountant’s office, which on a hotel purchase often saves a second meeting, because the trading figures are the heart of the case.
- At ours in Bolton, if you would rather come to us. Free parking.
- On a call or video, if the case is straightforward and nobody needs to see anything.
Blackpool Commercial Finance FAQs
Do you actually visit businesses in Blackpool?
Yes. Blackpool is about thirty five miles from our Bolton office, roughly fifty minutes via the M61 and M55, and we cover the town and the wider Fylde coast including Lytham St Annes, Cleveleys, Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood. On a hotel or guest house we will always want to walk through the building. There is no charge for a first meeting and no obligation to proceed. If you would rather come to us, we are at Westgate House, Westgate Avenue, Bolton, BL1 4RF.
Can you arrange a mortgage on a Blackpool hotel or guest house?
Yes, and it is one of the things we are asked for most on this coast. Be aware that it works differently from an ordinary commercial mortgage. The valuer assesses the trade the business can sustainably support rather than comparing the building with nearby sales, loan to value is usually lower at around 60% to 70%, and lenders will want to see how the business covers its costs outside the season. First time operators face a shorter list of lenders than someone already running a similar business, though it is far from impossible. Send us the accounts, the room count and the asking price and we will give you a realistic view before you commit to anything.
How long does a commercial mortgage take?
Typically 3 to 6 months from first enquiry to completion, and a hotel or guest house usually sits at the longer end because the valuation is more involved. Valuation and legal work are the two stages that overrun most often. If your deadline is weeks rather than months, bridging is usually the honest answer and we will tell you that rather than start an application that cannot land in time.
How much can I borrow?
On standard commercial property, typically up to 70% of value, or up to 75% on semi-commercial. On hotels and guest houses, commonly 60% to 70% and assessed against the trade. On unsecured business loans, commonly £10,000 to £500,000 depending on turnover and trading history. On asset finance it is driven by the asset itself, with nil deposit options available.
Can you help if I have already been declined?
Often, yes. A decline reflects one lender’s criteria, not a verdict on your business. Lenders turn cases down for reasons that have nothing to do with whether the business is sound, and with more than 135 lenders on our panel the question is usually which one to approach rather than whether anyone will look at it. Tell us who has already seen the case, because approaching the same lender twice through a different route does not help you.
Do you charge a broker fee?
Not on most facilities. On business loans, asset finance, invoice finance and merchant cash advances we are paid a commission by the lender, which is disclosed to you. Property secured deals carry a £495 upfront fee and 1% on completion. You will know the full cost before anything is submitted.
Apply For Commercial Finance in Blackpool
Tell us what you need funding for
Send us the outline and we will tell you honestly whether it is fundable, roughly what it should cost, and how long it will take. No charge for the conversation and no obligation to proceed. Call 0161 546 9128 or use the form below.
About the author
Marcus Wright is the owner and founder of Bolton Business Finance Ltd. He has worked in financial services since 2008, beginning at Santander, and has been a commercial finance broker since March 2019. He founded the firm in 2020 and is a member of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers.
He arranges commercial mortgages, bridging finance, development finance, business loans, asset finance, invoice finance and merchant cash advances for UK businesses, working with a panel of more than 135 lenders. He can be reached on 0161 546 9128.
Marcus is also the author of UK Commercial Finance (2026), a commercial finance book for UK business owners and property investors.
Bolton Business Finance Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 12495909. Registered office: Westgate House, Westgate Avenue, Bolton, BL1 4RF.
Bolton Business Finance Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We arrange non-regulated commercial and business finance only, and do not advise on or arrange residential mortgages, consumer buy to let, equity release or consumer credit. All finance is subject to status, lender criteria and credit assessment. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any other debt secured on it.