Best areas to open light-industrial business unit in East
27 East local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real rent, wages, rates and market density.
Where is the best place to open a light-industrial business unit in East?
In East, the best area to open a light-industrial business unit is Maldon, with a Gera Business Location Score of 79.7/100: premises at £78/m²/yr and local median pay £25,496. Watford ranks lowest of 27 East authorities at 57.9/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top East area for light-industrial business unit: Maldon.
How this is calculatedEast ranked for light-industrial business unit
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maldon | 79.7/100 | £78 | £25,496 | £3,370 |
| 2 | Babergh | 76.3/100 | £89 | £25,785 | £3,845 |
| 3 | Breckland | 75.2/100 | £69 | £28,303 | £2,981 |
| 4 | Rochford | 74.5/100 | £87 | £26,706 | £3,758 |
| 5 | South Norfolk | 73.4/100 | £65 | £29,114 | £2,808 |
| 6 | West Suffolk | 72.5/100 | £76 | £29,613 | £3,283 |
| 7 | Tendring | 71.6/100 | £73 | £27,067 | £3,154 |
| 8 | Uttlesford | 70.7/100 | £116 | £32,124 | £5,011 |
| 9 | North Hertfordshire | 70.6/100 | £68 | £33,409 | £2,938 |
| 10 | Braintree | 70.4/100 | £90 | £32,175 | £3,888 |
| 11 | Southend-on-Sea | 69.9/100 | £66 | £26,955 | £2,851 |
| 12 | Mid Suffolk | 69.7/100 | £103 | £32,413 | £4,450 |
| 13 | East Suffolk | 69.3/100 | £76 | £30,821 | £3,283 |
| 14 | Epping Forest | 67.8/100 | £125 | £30,038 | £5,400 |
| 15 | South Cambridgeshire | 66.5/100 | £61 | £41,348 | £2,635 |
| 16 | Bedford | 66.3/100 | £78 | £33,148 | £3,370 |
| 17 | Central Bedfordshire | 65.7/100 | £118 | £30,963 | £5,098 |
| 18 | Colchester | 64.9/100 | £100 | £31,056 | £4,320 |
| 19 | East Hertfordshire | 63.8/100 | £152 | £32,293 | £6,566 |
| 20 | Chelmsford | 63.1/100 | £124 | £32,010 | £5,357 |
| 21 | Peterborough | 61.7/100 | £131 | £31,062 | £5,659 |
| 22 | Luton | 61.1/100 | £118 | £29,640 | £5,098 |
| 23 | Thurrock | 60.8/100 | £118 | £34,388 | £5,098 |
| 24 | Harlow | 60.8/100 | £159 | £32,320 | £6,869 |
| 25 | Broxbourne | 60.8/100 | £176 | £29,980 | £7,603 |
| 26 | Ipswich | 60.7/100 | £123 | £30,605 | £5,314 |
| 27 | Watford | 57.9/100 | £158 | £31,833 | £6,826 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for light-industrial business unit premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £61/m²/yr in South Cambridgeshire. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Maldon ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for light-industrial business unit in Maldon?
- For a 100 m² unit in Maldon, business rates are roughly £3,370/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,800/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).