Best areas to open builders merchant in South West
16 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 builders merchant in South West?
In South West, the best area to open a builders merchant is Cotswold, with a Gera Business Location Score of 75.6/100: premises at £62/m²/yr and local median pay £29,655. Swindon ranks lowest of 16 South West authorities at 45.1/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for builders merchant: Cotswold.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for builders merchant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cotswold | 75.6/100 | £62 | £29,655 | £2,678 |
| 2 | South Hams | 74.9/100 | £45 | £28,329 | £1,944 |
| 3 | Forest of Dean | 69.7/100 | £38 | £25,387 | £1,642 |
| 4 | Dorset | 68.7/100 | £45 | £29,292 | £1,944 |
| 5 | Cornwall | 66.8/100 | £43 | £27,006 | £1,858 |
| 6 | West Devon | 63.5/100 | £50 | £28,161 | £2,160 |
| 7 | Somerset | 61.1/100 | £59 | £29,152 | £2,549 |
| 8 | Wiltshire | 60.8/100 | £51 | £30,000 | £2,203 |
| 9 | North Somerset | 58.2/100 | £60 | £28,749 | £2,592 |
| 10 | Exeter | 55.1/100 | £63 | £30,138 | £2,722 |
| 11 | Bath and North East Somerset | 53.6/100 | £57 | £32,004 | £2,462 |
| 12 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 49.8/100 | £77 | £31,121 | £3,326 |
| 13 | Bristol, City of | 47.1/100 | £58 | £36,652 | £2,506 |
| 14 | Plymouth | 46.4/100 | £64 | £30,346 | £2,765 |
| 15 | South Gloucestershire | 45.1/100 | £68 | £36,920 | £2,938 |
| 16 | Swindon | 45.1/100 | £72 | £32,933 | £3,110 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for builders merchant premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £38/m²/yr in Forest of Dean. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Cotswold ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for builders merchant in Cotswold?
- For a 100 m² unit in Cotswold, business rates are roughly £2,678/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £6,200/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a builders merchant in South West?
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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).