Best UK areas to open convenience store
300 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 convenience store in 2026?
The best UK area to open a convenience store is North Norfolk (East), with a Gera Business Location Score of 68.8/100: premises at £81/m²/yr and local median pay of £26,296. Westminster ranks lowest at 21/100. Ranked across 300 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Top 10 areas for convenience store
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Norfolk | East | 68.8/100 | £81 | £26,296 | £3,499 |
| 2 | Cotswold | South West | 66.6/100 | £91 | £29,655 | £3,931 |
| 3 | Pendle | North West | 66.5/100 | £81 | £28,099 | £3,499 |
| 4 | Great Yarmouth | East | 66.3/100 | £88 | £26,484 | £3,802 |
| 5 | Blaenau Gwent | Wales | 66.1/100 | £84 | £26,241 | £3,629 |
| 6 | Gwynedd | Wales | 66/100 | £98 | £25,217 | £4,234 |
| 7 | Oadby and Wigston | East Midlands | 65.8/100 | £105 | £23,103 | £4,536 |
| 8 | Breckland | East | 65.8/100 | £81 | £28,303 | £3,499 |
| 9 | Babergh | East | 65.8/100 | £92 | £25,785 | £3,974 |
| 10 | North East Lincolnshire | Yorkshire and The Humber | 65.7/100 | £93 | £26,631 | £4,018 |
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 convenience store within £2,000/month
- 1North NorfolkEastGBLS 68.8≈ £773/mo
- 2CotswoldSouth WestGBLS 66.6≈ £869/mo
- 3PendleNorth WestGBLS 66.5≈ £773/mo
- 4Great YarmouthEastGBLS 66.3≈ £840/mo
- 5Blaenau GwentWalesGBLS 66.1≈ £802/mo
- 6GwyneddWalesGBLS 66≈ £936/mo
- 7Oadby and WigstonEast MidlandsGBLS 65.8≈ £1,002/mo
- 8BrecklandEastGBLS 65.8≈ £773/mo
- 9BaberghEastGBLS 65.8≈ £878/mo
- 10North East LincolnshireYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 65.7≈ £888/mo
- 11Rhondda Cynon TafWalesGBLS 65.7≈ £754/mo
- 12HyndburnNorth WestGBLS 65.6≈ £840/mo
- 13LeicesterEast MidlandsGBLS 65.6≈ £811/mo
- 14BurnleyNorth WestGBLS 65.3≈ £869/mo
- 15Merthyr Tydfil / Merthyr TudfulWalesGBLS 65.3≈ £821/mo
Convenience store by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a convenience store in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 300 ranked areas is £79/m²/yr in Rhondda Cynon Taf. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, North Norfolk ranks #1 at 68.8/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for convenience store premises in North Norfolk?
- In North Norfolk, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £81 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £8,100/yr rent, plus roughly £3,499/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).