Best areas to open convenience store in South East
60 South 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 South East?
In South East, the best area to open a convenience store is Isle of Wight, with a Gera Business Location Score of 64.7/100: premises at £101/m²/yr and local median pay £26,185. Oxford ranks lowest of 60 South East authorities at 37.1/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for convenience store: Isle of Wight.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for convenience store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle of Wight | 64.7/100 | £101 | £26,185 | £4,363 |
| 2 | Rother | 62.9/100 | £112 | £27,732 | £4,838 |
| 3 | Thanet | 62.1/100 | £115 | £27,076 | £4,968 |
| 4 | Winchester | 61.5/100 | £122 | £34,568 | £5,270 |
| 5 | Ashford | 61.1/100 | £116 | £29,118 | £5,011 |
| 6 | Chichester | 60.7/100 | £128 | £28,547 | £5,530 |
| 7 | Havant | 60.1/100 | £114 | £30,573 | £4,925 |
| 8 | Dover | 59.7/100 | £114 | £31,547 | £4,925 |
| 9 | Eastbourne | 59.3/100 | £136 | £26,893 | £5,875 |
| 10 | Medway | 59.2/100 | £117 | £30,784 | £5,054 |
| 11 | Canterbury | 58.8/100 | £131 | £29,337 | £5,659 |
| 12 | New Forest | 58.3/100 | £136 | £30,071 | £5,875 |
| 13 | East Hampshire | 57.9/100 | £134 | £30,143 | £5,789 |
| 14 | Fareham | 57.6/100 | £123 | £32,895 | £5,314 |
| 15 | Portsmouth | 57.5/100 | £122 | £33,015 | £5,270 |
| 16 | Slough | 57.4/100 | £105 | £38,578 | £4,536 |
| 17 | Hastings | 57/100 | £143 | £29,383 | £6,178 |
| 18 | Gosport | 57/100 | £131 | £30,518 | £5,659 |
| 19 | South Oxfordshire | 56.7/100 | £119 | £36,315 | £5,141 |
| 20 | Vale of White Horse | 56.7/100 | £106 | £38,134 | £4,579 |
| 21 | Lewes | 56.6/100 | £137 | £32,287 | £5,918 |
| 22 | Arun | 56.6/100 | £152 | £27,461 | £6,566 |
| 23 | Swale | 56.4/100 | £140 | £29,831 | £6,048 |
| 24 | Tandridge | 55.7/100 | £149 | £29,925 | £6,437 |
| 25 | Southampton | 55.4/100 | £138 | £33,878 | £5,962 |
| 26 | Test Valley | 55/100 | £139 | £33,566 | £6,005 |
| 27 | Folkestone and Hythe | 54.9/100 | £149 | £31,907 | £6,437 |
| 28 | Tonbridge and Malling | 54.8/100 | £146 | £31,472 | £6,307 |
| 29 | Worthing | 54.8/100 | £160 | £29,044 | £6,912 |
| 30 | Gravesham | 54.7/100 | £137 | £34,455 | £5,918 |
| 31 | Mole Valley | 54.7/100 | £126 | £39,893 | £5,443 |
| 32 | Cherwell | 54.6/100 | £149 | £33,207 | £6,437 |
| 33 | Mid Sussex | 54.6/100 | £153 | £31,401 | £6,610 |
| 34 | Basingstoke and Deane | 54.5/100 | £132 | £35,492 | £5,702 |
| 35 | Wealden | 54/100 | £174 | £27,639 | £7,517 |
| 36 | Waverley | 54/100 | £161 | £31,083 | £6,955 |
| 37 | Maidstone | 53.7/100 | £156 | £31,986 | £6,739 |
| 38 | Eastleigh | 53.5/100 | £142 | £35,362 | £6,134 |
| 39 | Elmbridge | 53.2/100 | £171 | £30,000 | £7,387 |
| 40 | Tunbridge Wells | 52.9/100 | £177 | £30,296 | £7,646 |
| 41 | Buckinghamshire | 52.6/100 | £160 | £33,367 | £6,912 |
| 42 | Hart | 52.6/100 | £162 | £30,973 | £6,998 |
| 43 | Dartford | 52.5/100 | £166 | £32,428 | £7,171 |
| 44 | West Berkshire | 52.4/100 | £148 | £35,806 | £6,394 |
| 45 | Spelthorne | 52.3/100 | £167 | £32,237 | £7,214 |
| 46 | Rushmoor | 52/100 | £157 | £34,238 | £6,782 |
| 47 | Reigate and Banstead | 51.8/100 | £141 | £39,073 | £6,091 |
| 48 | Surrey Heath | 51.2/100 | £157 | £36,632 | £6,782 |
| 49 | Crawley | 50.3/100 | £163 | £36,053 | £7,042 |
| 50 | Epsom and Ewell | 50/100 | £174 | £33,824 | £7,517 |
| 51 | Woking | 49.8/100 | £171 | £35,258 | £7,387 |
| 52 | Bracknell Forest | 49.5/100 | £162 | £37,063 | £6,998 |
| 53 | Milton Keynes | 49.4/100 | £170 | £36,521 | £7,344 |
| 54 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 49.3/100 | £182 | £34,570 | £7,862 |
| 55 | Horsham | 49.3/100 | £188 | £32,334 | £8,122 |
| 56 | Brighton and Hove | 48.3/100 | £196 | £33,649 | £8,467 |
| 57 | Wokingham | 48.3/100 | £165 | £38,552 | £7,128 |
| 58 | Reading | 47.4/100 | £152 | £44,956 | £6,566 |
| 59 | Guildford | 47/100 | £183 | £38,027 | £7,906 |
| 60 | Oxford | 37.1/100 | £248 | £38,779 | £10,714 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for convenience store premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £101/m²/yr in Isle of Wight. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Isle of Wight ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for convenience store in Isle of Wight?
- For a 100 m² unit in Isle of Wight, business rates are roughly £4,363/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £10,100/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).