Best areas to open drive-thru restaurant in East
25 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 drive-thru restaurant in East?
In East, the best area to open a drive-thru restaurant is Dacorum, with a Gera Business Location Score of 63/100: premises at £330/m²/yr and local median pay £18,675. Stevenage ranks lowest of 25 East authorities at 31.4/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
East ranked for drive-thru restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dacorum | 63/100 | £330 | £18,675 | £14,256 |
| 2 | East Suffolk | 60.7/100 | £311 | £30,821 | £13,435 |
| 3 | Breckland | 57/100 | £315 | £28,303 | £13,608 |
| 4 | Hertsmere | 55.3/100 | £309 | £36,000 | £13,349 |
| 5 | Bedford | 53.9/100 | £300 | £33,148 | £12,960 |
| 6 | Castle Point | 53.7/100 | £315 | £27,524 | £13,608 |
| 7 | Babergh | 53.4/100 | £354 | £25,785 | £15,293 |
| 8 | South Norfolk | 53.3/100 | £319 | £29,114 | £13,781 |
| 9 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 51.8/100 | £355 | £30,544 | £15,336 |
| 10 | West Suffolk | 50.4/100 | £355 | £29,613 | £15,336 |
| 11 | Broadland | 50.1/100 | £307 | £32,576 | £13,262 |
| 12 | North Hertfordshire | 49.9/100 | £340 | £33,409 | £14,688 |
| 13 | Central Bedfordshire | 49.2/100 | £328 | £30,963 | £14,170 |
| 14 | Chelmsford | 49.2/100 | £328 | £32,010 | £14,170 |
| 15 | Tendring | 48.8/100 | £367 | £27,067 | £15,854 |
| 16 | Peterborough | 48.4/100 | £335 | £31,062 | £14,472 |
| 17 | Luton | 45.3/100 | £350 | £29,640 | £15,120 |
| 18 | Southend-on-Sea | 44.7/100 | £402 | £26,955 | £17,366 |
| 19 | Ipswich | 41.2/100 | £388 | £30,605 | £16,762 |
| 20 | Braintree | 39.4/100 | £374 | £32,175 | £16,157 |
| 21 | Colchester | 39.1/100 | £388 | £31,056 | £16,762 |
| 22 | Basildon | 37.8/100 | £372 | £32,050 | £16,070 |
| 23 | Huntingdonshire | 37.1/100 | £393 | £32,441 | £16,978 |
| 24 | Thurrock | 36.6/100 | £368 | £34,388 | £15,898 |
| 25 | Stevenage | 31.4/100 | £383 | £41,224 | £16,546 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for drive-thru restaurant premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £300/m²/yr in Bedford. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Dacorum ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for drive-thru restaurant in Dacorum?
- For a 100 m² unit in Dacorum, business rates are roughly £14,256/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £33,000/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a drive-thru restaurant in 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).