Best areas to open convenience store in East
43 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 convenience store in East?
In East, the best area to open a convenience store is North Norfolk, with a Gera Business Location Score of 68.8/100: premises at £81/m²/yr and local median pay £26,296. Three Rivers ranks lowest of 43 East authorities at 44.6/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top East area for convenience store: North Norfolk.
How this is calculatedEast ranked for convenience store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Norfolk | 68.8/100 | £81 | £26,296 | £3,499 |
| 2 | Great Yarmouth | 66.3/100 | £88 | £26,484 | £3,802 |
| 3 | Breckland | 65.8/100 | £81 | £28,303 | £3,499 |
| 4 | Babergh | 65.8/100 | £92 | £25,785 | £3,974 |
| 5 | Fenland | 63.9/100 | £100 | £27,005 | £4,320 |
| 6 | Maldon | 63.3/100 | £112 | £25,496 | £4,838 |
| 7 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 63.3/100 | £94 | £30,544 | £4,061 |
| 8 | Dacorum | 62.6/100 | £142 | £18,675 | £6,134 |
| 9 | Norwich | 62.4/100 | £114 | £28,457 | £4,925 |
| 10 | Tendring | 62.2/100 | £114 | £27,067 | £4,925 |
| 11 | Southend-on-Sea | 61.5/100 | £122 | £26,955 | £5,270 |
| 12 | Castle Point | 61/100 | £119 | £27,524 | £5,141 |
| 13 | South Norfolk | 60.7/100 | £113 | £29,114 | £4,882 |
| 14 | East Suffolk | 60.4/100 | £117 | £30,821 | £5,054 |
| 15 | Braintree | 60.1/100 | £107 | £32,175 | £4,622 |
| 16 | Brentwood | 60/100 | £118 | £30,607 | £5,098 |
| 17 | Luton | 59.9/100 | £120 | £29,640 | £5,184 |
| 18 | Mid Suffolk | 59.9/100 | £104 | £32,413 | £4,493 |
| 19 | West Suffolk | 59.9/100 | £124 | £29,613 | £5,357 |
| 20 | Harlow | 59.3/100 | £111 | £32,320 | £4,795 |
| 21 | Peterborough | 59.2/100 | £120 | £31,062 | £5,184 |
| 22 | East Cambridgeshire | 59.1/100 | £119 | £30,232 | £5,141 |
| 23 | Ipswich | 58.8/100 | £127 | £30,605 | £5,486 |
| 24 | Basildon | 58.7/100 | £118 | £32,050 | £5,098 |
| 25 | Colchester | 58.3/100 | £126 | £31,056 | £5,443 |
| 26 | Broxbourne | 58.3/100 | £131 | £29,980 | £5,659 |
| 27 | Rochford | 58.1/100 | £142 | £26,706 | £6,134 |
| 28 | Huntingdonshire | 57.9/100 | £122 | £32,441 | £5,270 |
| 29 | Broadland | 57.8/100 | £120 | £32,576 | £5,184 |
| 30 | Uttlesford | 57.7/100 | £127 | £32,124 | £5,486 |
| 31 | Central Bedfordshire | 57.4/100 | £129 | £30,963 | £5,573 |
| 32 | Chelmsford | 57.1/100 | £132 | £32,010 | £5,702 |
| 33 | Thurrock | 56.9/100 | £124 | £34,388 | £5,357 |
| 34 | Watford | 56.9/100 | £139 | £31,833 | £6,005 |
| 35 | Bedford | 56.3/100 | £130 | £33,148 | £5,616 |
| 36 | North Hertfordshire | 56.3/100 | £131 | £33,409 | £5,659 |
| 37 | Hertsmere | 55.5/100 | £132 | £36,000 | £5,702 |
| 38 | East Hertfordshire | 54.9/100 | £146 | £32,293 | £6,307 |
| 39 | Welwyn Hatfield | 52.4/100 | £134 | £39,794 | £5,789 |
| 40 | St Albans | 51.2/100 | £171 | £33,468 | £7,387 |
| 41 | South Cambridgeshire | 48.7/100 | £152 | £41,348 | £6,566 |
| 42 | Cambridge | 46.2/100 | £178 | £40,266 | £7,690 |
| 43 | Three Rivers | 44.6/100 | £179 | £43,202 | £7,733 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for convenience store premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £81/m²/yr in North Norfolk. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, North Norfolk ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for convenience store in North Norfolk?
- For a 100 m² unit in North Norfolk, business rates are roughly £3,499/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £8,100/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).