Best areas to open convenience store in South West
20 South West 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 West?
In South West, the best area to open a convenience store is Cotswold, with a Gera Business Location Score of 66.6/100: premises at £91/m²/yr and local median pay £29,655. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole ranks lowest of 20 South West authorities at 48.5/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for convenience store: Cotswold.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for convenience store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cotswold | 66.6/100 | £91 | £29,655 | £3,931 |
| 2 | North Somerset | 58.4/100 | £134 | £28,749 | £5,789 |
| 3 | Torbay | 58/100 | £143 | £28,066 | £6,178 |
| 4 | Cornwall | 56.9/100 | £159 | £27,006 | £6,869 |
| 5 | Mid Devon | 56/100 | £149 | £29,224 | £6,437 |
| 6 | Teignbridge | 55.7/100 | £155 | £28,636 | £6,696 |
| 7 | Cheltenham | 55.5/100 | £137 | £35,202 | £5,918 |
| 8 | Bath and North East Somerset | 55.4/100 | £145 | £32,004 | £6,264 |
| 9 | South Hams | 55.3/100 | £174 | £28,329 | £7,517 |
| 10 | Somerset | 55.1/100 | £159 | £29,152 | £6,869 |
| 11 | Dorset | 54.6/100 | £168 | £29,292 | £7,258 |
| 12 | Wiltshire | 54.3/100 | £159 | £30,000 | £6,869 |
| 13 | South Gloucestershire | 52.1/100 | £145 | £36,920 | £6,264 |
| 14 | East Devon | 52.1/100 | £173 | £31,874 | £7,474 |
| 15 | Plymouth | 51.9/100 | £171 | £30,346 | £7,387 |
| 16 | Exeter | 50.5/100 | £186 | £30,138 | £8,035 |
| 17 | Tewkesbury | 50/100 | £162 | £37,088 | £6,998 |
| 18 | Bristol, City of | 49.8/100 | £164 | £36,652 | £7,085 |
| 19 | Swindon | 49.5/100 | £178 | £32,933 | £7,690 |
| 20 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 48.5/100 | £199 | £31,121 | £8,597 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for convenience store premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £91/m²/yr in Cotswold. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Cotswold ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for convenience store in Cotswold?
- For a 100 m² unit in Cotswold, business rates are roughly £3,931/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £9,100/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a convenience store in South West?
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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).