We paint commercial premises in Brixworth, around 6.5 miles north of Northampton. That covers offices and units on the Harborough Road industrial estate, small businesses along Northampton Road and Kennel Terrace, and historic buildings in business use within the conservation area.
Business premises in Brixworth
Commercial Brixworth sits in two quite separate places. One is the industrial estate off Harborough Road, built on former ironstone quarry land; its street names, Ironstone Way and Quarry Road, still point to that past. Firms there include Haddonstone and several engineering companies. Within and next to the old village are smaller premises: businesses, light industry and a garage along Northampton Road, a commercial row on Kennel Terrace, the former Co-op at the Holcot Road corner, and the listed Coach and Horses and George Inn. On Spratton Road, the surviving entrance block of the 1830s Union Workhouse now houses a business too.
Industrial estate units on Ironstone Way and Quarry Road
The estate mixes engineering workshops with offices, so the job is normally the office and welfare side of a unit, done in an order agreed with the site manager while the workshop floor carries on. On these units we would plan for:
- Durable, scrubbable wall finishes in offices and welfare areas that see work clothing and dust.
- Low-odour, water-based paints where offices share air with occupied space.
- Exterior metalwork, such as steel doors, handrails and fencing, prepared and primed against rust before it is top-coated.
- Working within site safety rules, inductions and vehicle routes.
Older buildings in the conservation area
The village premises raise a different set of questions. The Coach and Horses and the George Inn are Grade II listed, built of squared coursed lias, and alterations that affect a listed building’s character can need listed building consent; we would expect the owner to confirm what is permitted before any change of exterior colour. On top of that, the 2019 Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights for painting front and road-facing elevations of named buildings, including parts of Kennel Terrace, Northampton Road and Spratton Road.
In practice, exterior work on these buildings is mostly joinery: windows, doors and sashes like those on the former workhouse, repainted in their existing colours, with stone surrounds left clean. The conservation area appraisal advises against masonry paint on pre-1919 walls, so bare stone stays bare. The render on the Kennel Terrace commercial row and on the old Co-op building is where a masonry coating does apply, and those need a breathable paint suited to the render.
Working around a pub or a small shop
For a pub or a small business on Northampton Road, timing decides everything. Inside the Coach and Horses or the George Inn, bar and dining rooms can be painted in the mornings before opening, with fast-drying, low-odour coatings chosen so the room can reopen once they are dry. Northampton Road is wide and busy, which helps with van access but means any ladder work at the front needs clear barriers for passers-by. Exterior jobs on the narrower lanes near the church take more planning.
Some of the old core also sits under heavy tree cover, with dozens of protected trees around the conservation area. On a shaded commercial frontage that means slower drying, sap and leaf litter on wet paint, and branches that cannot be cut back for access, so we choose drier spells and allow extra time between coats.
We are fully insured for commercial work and can provide documents for a site file. Our main commercial painting page explains how we schedule business jobs, and the shopfront painting page covers frontages. For the village’s homes, see decorating in Brixworth.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
