Best areas to open drive-thru restaurant in South West
14 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 drive-thru restaurant in South West?
In South West, the best area to open a drive-thru restaurant is North Devon, with a Gera Business Location Score of 74.9/100: premises at £297/m²/yr and local median pay £27,526. Exeter ranks lowest of 14 South West authorities at 33.2/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for drive-thru restaurant: North Devon.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for drive-thru restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Devon | 74.9/100 | £297 | £27,526 | £12,830 |
| 2 | Cornwall | 72.1/100 | £316 | £27,006 | £13,651 |
| 3 | Dorset | 66/100 | £309 | £29,292 | £13,349 |
| 4 | Somerset | 55.5/100 | £337 | £29,152 | £14,558 |
| 5 | North Somerset | 54/100 | £339 | £28,749 | £14,645 |
| 6 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 53.1/100 | £330 | £31,121 | £14,256 |
| 7 | Gloucester | 48.6/100 | £345 | £30,796 | £14,904 |
| 8 | Bristol, City of | 48.5/100 | £324 | £36,652 | £13,997 |
| 9 | Wiltshire | 46.9/100 | £365 | £30,000 | £15,768 |
| 10 | Swindon | 46.3/100 | £334 | £32,933 | £14,429 |
| 11 | Plymouth | 36.9/100 | £414 | £30,346 | £17,885 |
| 12 | Cheltenham | 36.6/100 | £426 | £35,202 | £18,403 |
| 13 | South Gloucestershire | 35.7/100 | £372 | £36,920 | £16,070 |
| 14 | Exeter | 33.2/100 | £437 | £30,138 | £18,878 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for drive-thru restaurant premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £297/m²/yr in North Devon. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, North Devon ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for drive-thru restaurant in North Devon?
- For a 100 m² unit in North Devon, business rates are roughly £12,830/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £29,700/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a drive-thru restaurant 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).