Best areas to open convenience store in North East
12 North 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 North East?
In North East, the best area to open a convenience store is County Durham, with a Gera Business Location Score of 64.7/100: premises at £83/m²/yr and local median pay £29,393. Newcastle upon Tyne ranks lowest of 12 North East authorities at 58.6/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top North East area for convenience store: County Durham.
How this is calculatedNorth East ranked for convenience store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | County Durham | 64.7/100 | £83 | £29,393 | £3,586 |
| 2 | Gateshead | 64.5/100 | £92 | £28,507 | £3,974 |
| 3 | South Tyneside | 64.4/100 | £99 | £25,490 | £4,277 |
| 4 | Darlington | 64/100 | £92 | £29,692 | £3,974 |
| 5 | Northumberland | 63.6/100 | £101 | £27,769 | £4,363 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 63.6/100 | £96 | £28,214 | £4,147 |
| 7 | Redcar and Cleveland | 63.4/100 | £96 | £28,356 | £4,147 |
| 8 | Hartlepool | 62.6/100 | £102 | £28,204 | £4,406 |
| 9 | Middlesbrough | 62.4/100 | £100 | £29,502 | £4,320 |
| 10 | Stockton-on-Tees | 60/100 | £115 | £29,537 | £4,968 |
| 11 | North Tyneside | 59.5/100 | £121 | £29,311 | £5,227 |
| 12 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 58.6/100 | £120 | £31,786 | £5,184 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for convenience store premises in North East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in North East is £83/m²/yr in County Durham. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, County Durham ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for convenience store in County Durham?
- For a 100 m² unit in County Durham, business rates are roughly £3,586/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £8,300/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a convenience store in North East?
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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).