Best areas to open drive-thru restaurant in North West
27 North 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 drive-thru restaurant in North West?
In North West, the best area to open a drive-thru restaurant is Blackpool, with a Gera Business Location Score of 75.3/100: premises at £280/m²/yr and local median pay £27,064. Preston ranks lowest of 27 North West authorities at 32.2/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top North West area for drive-thru restaurant: Blackpool.
How this is calculatedNorth West ranked for drive-thru restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackpool | 75.3/100 | £280 | £27,064 | £12,096 |
| 2 | Westmorland and Furness | 71.8/100 | £301 | £32,683 | £13,003 |
| 3 | Hyndburn | 62.3/100 | £283 | £27,323 | £12,226 |
| 4 | Blackburn with Darwen | 61.8/100 | £270 | £30,572 | £11,664 |
| 5 | Cumberland | 60.2/100 | £309 | £34,890 | £13,349 |
| 6 | Stockport | 59.6/100 | £302 | £28,296 | £13,046 |
| 7 | Sefton | 58.4/100 | £308 | £27,006 | £13,306 |
| 8 | Manchester | 56.8/100 | £295 | £36,554 | £12,744 |
| 9 | Bury | 56.6/100 | £310 | £29,060 | £13,392 |
| 10 | Wirral | 53.8/100 | £318 | £28,840 | £13,738 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 53.4/100 | £323 | £33,648 | £13,954 |
| 12 | Wigan | 52.5/100 | £320 | £28,003 | £13,824 |
| 13 | Bolton | 52.4/100 | £327 | £27,696 | £14,126 |
| 14 | Salford | 50.2/100 | £305 | £34,741 | £13,176 |
| 15 | Fylde | 49.9/100 | £343 | £36,962 | £14,818 |
| 16 | Chorley | 49.1/100 | £345 | £29,415 | £14,904 |
| 17 | Tameside | 48/100 | £353 | £27,115 | £15,250 |
| 18 | Rochdale | 47.8/100 | £347 | £29,036 | £14,990 |
| 19 | Oldham | 47.1/100 | £360 | £27,990 | £15,552 |
| 20 | Cheshire East | 46.4/100 | £351 | £33,200 | £15,163 |
| 21 | St. Helens | 46.4/100 | £344 | £28,468 | £14,861 |
| 22 | Warrington | 45.8/100 | £338 | £34,719 | £14,602 |
| 23 | Knowsley | 44.7/100 | £320 | £32,181 | £13,824 |
| 24 | Cheshire West and Chester | 43.5/100 | £378 | £30,636 | £16,330 |
| 25 | Trafford | 40.4/100 | £397 | £31,516 | £17,150 |
| 26 | Halton | 36.5/100 | £383 | £32,465 | £16,546 |
| 27 | Preston | 32.2/100 | £421 | £32,655 | £18,187 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for drive-thru restaurant premises in North West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in North West is £270/m²/yr in Blackburn with Darwen. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Blackpool ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for drive-thru restaurant in Blackpool?
- For a 100 m² unit in Blackpool, business rates are roughly £12,096/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £28,000/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).