Best areas to open financial / a2 office in South West
26 South West local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real rent, wages, rates and market density.
Where is the best place to open a financial or professional A2-use office in South West?
In South West, the best area to open a financial or professional A2-use office is Forest of Dean, with a Gera Business Location Score of 64.9/100: premises at £64/m²/yr and local median pay £25,387. Cheltenham ranks lowest of 26 South West authorities at 44.3/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for financial / a2 office: Forest of Dean.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for financial / a2 office
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forest of Dean | 64.9/100 | £64 | £25,387 | £2,765 |
| 2 | Torridge | 64.5/100 | £59 | £26,745 | £2,549 |
| 3 | North Devon | 63.2/100 | £73 | £27,526 | £3,154 |
| 4 | Torbay | 62.4/100 | £80 | £28,066 | £3,456 |
| 5 | Mid Devon | 62/100 | £76 | £29,224 | £3,283 |
| 6 | Teignbridge | 61.5/100 | £89 | £28,636 | £3,845 |
| 7 | Cornwall | 61.4/100 | £102 | £27,006 | £4,406 |
| 8 | North Somerset | 61/100 | £95 | £28,749 | £4,104 |
| 9 | West Devon | 60.9/100 | £100 | £28,161 | £4,320 |
| 10 | Somerset | 60.4/100 | £101 | £29,152 | £4,363 |
| 11 | Stroud | 60.3/100 | £78 | £32,495 | £3,370 |
| 12 | Wiltshire | 60/100 | £100 | £30,000 | £4,320 |
| 13 | Dorset | 59.9/100 | £106 | £29,292 | £4,579 |
| 14 | Gloucester | 59.1/100 | £107 | £30,796 | £4,622 |
| 15 | South Hams | 59/100 | £127 | £28,329 | £5,486 |
| 16 | Plymouth | 58.7/100 | £115 | £30,346 | £4,968 |
| 17 | East Devon | 58.4/100 | £108 | £31,874 | £4,666 |
| 18 | Cotswold | 57.8/100 | £134 | £29,655 | £5,789 |
| 19 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 57.5/100 | £127 | £31,121 | £5,486 |
| 20 | Tewkesbury | 56.7/100 | £95 | £37,088 | £4,104 |
| 21 | Swindon | 56.5/100 | £128 | £32,933 | £5,530 |
| 22 | Exeter | 55.9/100 | £157 | £30,138 | £6,782 |
| 23 | South Gloucestershire | 55.8/100 | £109 | £36,920 | £4,709 |
| 24 | Bristol, City of | 52.6/100 | £157 | £36,652 | £6,782 |
| 25 | Bath and North East Somerset | 49.3/100 | £237 | £32,004 | £10,238 |
| 26 | Cheltenham | 44.3/100 | £285 | £35,202 | £12,312 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for financial / a2 office premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £59/m²/yr in Torridge. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Forest of Dean ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for financial / a2 office in Forest of Dean?
- For a 100 m² unit in Forest of Dean, business rates are roughly £2,765/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £6,400/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
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Contains public sector information published by Valuation Office Agency and Office for National Statistics and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: VOA Business Floorspace + ONS Business Counts + ONS ASHE (work geography) + ONS population estimates (2025 (VOA 31 March 2025; ASHE 2025 provisional; Business Counts 2025; population mid-2024), published December 2025).