Best areas to open builders merchant in East Midlands
16 East Midlands local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real rent, wages, rates and market density.
Where is the best place to open a builders merchant in East Midlands?
In East Midlands, the best area to open a builders merchant is Boston, with a Gera Business Location Score of 79.1/100: premises at £31/m²/yr and local median pay £26,187. Derby ranks lowest of 16 East Midlands authorities at 49.6/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top East Midlands area for builders merchant: Boston.
How this is calculatedEast Midlands ranked for builders merchant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 79.1/100 | £31 | £26,187 | £1,339 |
| 2 | South Holland | 73.3/100 | £43 | £27,809 | £1,858 |
| 3 | South Kesteven | 71.7/100 | £44 | £28,724 | £1,901 |
| 4 | East Lindsey | 71.1/100 | £40 | £26,724 | £1,728 |
| 5 | Newark and Sherwood | 69.7/100 | £44 | £26,911 | £1,901 |
| 6 | Erewash | 69/100 | £31 | £29,102 | £1,339 |
| 7 | Leicester | 68.7/100 | £45 | £29,411 | £1,944 |
| 8 | Chesterfield | 67.7/100 | £49 | £30,962 | £2,117 |
| 9 | West Lindsey | 66.9/100 | £40 | £30,000 | £1,728 |
| 10 | West Northamptonshire | 62.9/100 | £48 | £33,147 | £2,074 |
| 11 | North Northamptonshire | 61.4/100 | £54 | £31,027 | £2,333 |
| 12 | Charnwood | 60.2/100 | £55 | £32,435 | £2,376 |
| 13 | Lincoln | 59.7/100 | £33 | £29,482 | £1,426 |
| 14 | Nottingham | 59.4/100 | £50 | £29,144 | £2,160 |
| 15 | North Kesteven | 57.5/100 | £58 | £29,941 | £2,506 |
| 16 | Derby | 49.6/100 | £56 | £35,179 | £2,419 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for builders merchant premises in East Midlands?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East Midlands is £31/m²/yr in Boston. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Boston ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for builders merchant in Boston?
- For a 100 m² unit in Boston, business rates are roughly £1,339/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £3,100/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a builders merchant in East Midlands?
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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).