Best UK areas to open cafe
315 local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real commercial rent, local wages, business rates and market density.
Which UK areas are best for opening a cafe or coffee shop in 2026?
The best UK area to open a cafe or coffee shop is Gwynedd (Wales), with a Gera Business Location Score of 68.5/100: premises at £62/m²/yr and local median pay of £25,217. Westminster ranks lowest at 16.9/100. Ranked across 315 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Top 10 areas for cafe
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gwynedd | Wales | 68.5/100 | £62 | £25,217 | £2,678 |
| 2 | Powys | Wales | 66.3/100 | £67 | £26,839 | £2,894 |
| 3 | Staffordshire Moorlands | West Midlands | 66.1/100 | £63 | £26,204 | £2,722 |
| 4 | Conwy | Wales | 66.1/100 | £75 | £26,961 | £3,240 |
| 5 | Forest of Dean | South West | 65.9/100 | £66 | £25,387 | £2,851 |
| 6 | Isle of Anglesey / Ynys Môn | Wales | 65.9/100 | £62 | £29,867 | £2,678 |
| 7 | Pembrokeshire / Sir Benfro | Wales | 65.7/100 | £84 | £26,535 | £3,629 |
| 8 | Blaenau Gwent | Wales | 65.5/100 | £57 | £26,241 | £2,462 |
| 9 | South Tyneside | North East | 65.4/100 | £66 | £25,490 | £2,851 |
| 10 | Wyre | North West | 65.4/100 | £58 | £27,657 | £2,506 |
Filter by your budget
Set a premises size and monthly budget to shortlist the areas that fit.
Budget covers estimated annual rent (VOA rateable value × floor area) plus the 2026-27 small-business rates bill (43.2p multiplier), spread over 12 months. Real reliefs (e.g. Small Business Rate Relief) can reduce the rates portion further.
Best areas to open a cafe or coffee shop within £2,000/month
- 1GwyneddWalesGBLS 68.5≈ £592/mo
- 2PowysWalesGBLS 66.3≈ £640/mo
- 3Staffordshire MoorlandsWest MidlandsGBLS 66.1≈ £601/mo
- 4ConwyWalesGBLS 66.1≈ £716/mo
- 5Forest of DeanSouth WestGBLS 65.9≈ £630/mo
- 6Isle of Anglesey / Ynys MônWalesGBLS 65.9≈ £592/mo
- 7Pembrokeshire / Sir BenfroWalesGBLS 65.7≈ £802/mo
- 8Blaenau GwentWalesGBLS 65.5≈ £544/mo
- 9South TynesideNorth EastGBLS 65.4≈ £630/mo
- 10WyreNorth WestGBLS 65.4≈ £554/mo
- 11Denbighshire / Sir DdinbychWalesGBLS 65.4≈ £649/mo
- 12ThanetSouth EastGBLS 65.2≈ £687/mo
- 13HyndburnNorth WestGBLS 65.1≈ £573/mo
- 14North East LincolnshireYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 65.1≈ £630/mo
- 15Great YarmouthEastGBLS 65.1≈ £726/mo
Cafe by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a cafe or coffee shop in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 315 ranked areas is £47/m²/yr in North Lincolnshire. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, Gwynedd ranks #1 at 68.5/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for cafe premises in Gwynedd?
- In Gwynedd, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £62 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £6,200/yr rent, plus roughly £2,678/yr business rates at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p) — before any Small Business Rate Relief.
- What data is this based on?
- VOA Non-Domestic Rating Business Floorspace (rateable value per m², 31 March 2025), ONS UK Business Counts 2025 (market density), ONS ASHE 2025 (local wages) and ONS mid-2024 population — all Open Government Licence v3.0, joined on the ONS local-authority code.
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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).