Best areas to open cafe in East
45 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 cafe or coffee shop in East?
In East, the best area to open a cafe or coffee shop is Great Yarmouth, with a Gera Business Location Score of 65.1/100: premises at £76/m²/yr and local median pay £26,484. Thurrock ranks lowest of 45 East authorities at 38.3/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
East ranked for cafe
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Yarmouth | 65.1/100 | £76 | £26,484 | £3,283 |
| 2 | North Norfolk | 63.8/100 | £102 | £26,296 | £4,406 |
| 3 | Maldon | 63.6/100 | £92 | £25,496 | £3,974 |
| 4 | Fenland | 62.6/100 | £90 | £27,005 | £3,888 |
| 5 | Babergh | 62.6/100 | £101 | £25,785 | £4,363 |
| 6 | Tendring | 62.2/100 | £97 | £27,067 | £4,190 |
| 7 | East Suffolk | 61.5/100 | £89 | £30,821 | £3,845 |
| 8 | Breckland | 61.2/100 | £101 | £28,303 | £4,363 |
| 9 | Dacorum | 60.9/100 | £162 | £18,675 | £6,998 |
| 10 | Mid Suffolk | 60.7/100 | £80 | £32,413 | £3,456 |
| 11 | Broadland | 60.6/100 | £77 | £32,576 | £3,326 |
| 12 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 60.3/100 | £103 | £30,544 | £4,450 |
| 13 | Braintree | 59.7/100 | £91 | £32,175 | £3,931 |
| 14 | South Norfolk | 59.1/100 | £118 | £29,114 | £5,098 |
| 15 | Castle Point | 58.8/100 | £129 | £27,524 | £5,573 |
| 16 | Ipswich | 58.1/100 | £122 | £30,605 | £5,270 |
| 17 | Uttlesford | 57.9/100 | £117 | £32,124 | £5,054 |
| 18 | West Suffolk | 57.9/100 | £134 | £29,613 | £5,789 |
| 19 | Southend-on-Sea | 57.7/100 | £152 | £26,955 | £6,566 |
| 20 | Central Bedfordshire | 57.1/100 | £129 | £30,963 | £5,573 |
| 21 | East Cambridgeshire | 56.6/100 | £140 | £30,232 | £6,048 |
| 22 | Norwich | 56.6/100 | £158 | £28,457 | £6,826 |
| 23 | Luton | 56.1/100 | £147 | £29,640 | £6,350 |
| 24 | Bedford | 56/100 | £131 | £33,148 | £5,659 |
| 25 | Broxbourne | 56/100 | £150 | £29,980 | £6,480 |
| 26 | Huntingdonshire | 55.8/100 | £136 | £32,441 | £5,875 |
| 27 | Peterborough | 55.1/100 | £152 | £31,062 | £6,566 |
| 28 | Colchester | 55.1/100 | £153 | £31,056 | £6,610 |
| 29 | Epping Forest | 55/100 | £164 | £30,038 | £7,085 |
| 30 | Rochford | 55/100 | £177 | £26,706 | £7,646 |
| 31 | East Hertfordshire | 54.5/100 | £155 | £32,293 | £6,696 |
| 32 | Harlow | 54.3/100 | £151 | £32,320 | £6,523 |
| 33 | Brentwood | 52.8/100 | £184 | £30,607 | £7,949 |
| 34 | Basildon | 52.4/100 | £174 | £32,050 | £7,517 |
| 35 | Watford | 52.2/100 | £186 | £31,833 | £8,035 |
| 36 | North Hertfordshire | 51.5/100 | £186 | £33,409 | £8,035 |
| 37 | South Cambridgeshire | 50.8/100 | £140 | £41,348 | £6,048 |
| 38 | Chelmsford | 50.5/100 | £200 | £32,010 | £8,640 |
| 39 | Welwyn Hatfield | 49.5/100 | £164 | £39,794 | £7,085 |
| 40 | Hertsmere | 48.2/100 | £211 | £36,000 | £9,115 |
| 41 | Stevenage | 46/100 | £198 | £41,224 | £8,554 |
| 42 | St Albans | 45.2/100 | £259 | £33,468 | £11,189 |
| 43 | Cambridge | 41.1/100 | £267 | £40,266 | £11,534 |
| 44 | Three Rivers | 39.9/100 | £258 | £43,202 | £11,146 |
| 45 | Thurrock | 38.3/100 | £324 | £34,388 | £13,997 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for cafe premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £76/m²/yr in Great Yarmouth. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Great Yarmouth ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for cafe in Great Yarmouth?
- For a 100 m² unit in Great Yarmouth, business rates are roughly £3,283/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,600/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).