Best areas to open drive-thru restaurant in Wales
13 Wales 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 Wales?
In Wales, the best area to open a drive-thru restaurant is Gwynedd, with a Gera Business Location Score of 84.2/100: premises at £304/m²/yr and local median pay £25,217. Wrexham / Wrecsam ranks lowest of 13 Wales authorities at 38.9/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top Wales area for drive-thru restaurant: Gwynedd.
How this is calculatedWales ranked for drive-thru restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gwynedd | 84.2/100 | £304 | £25,217 | £13,133 |
| 2 | Denbighshire / Sir Ddinbych | 61.7/100 | £333 | £27,011 | £14,386 |
| 3 | Carmarthenshire / Sir Gaerfyrddin | 55.8/100 | £326 | £29,835 | £14,083 |
| 4 | Caerphilly / Caerffili | 54.7/100 | £308 | £28,187 | £13,306 |
| 5 | Neath Port Talbot / Castell-nedd Port Talbot | 53.9/100 | £305 | £30,055 | £13,176 |
| 6 | Swansea / Abertawe | 53.8/100 | £325 | £31,348 | £14,040 |
| 7 | Flintshire / Sir y Fflint | 50.8/100 | £307 | £34,480 | £13,262 |
| 8 | Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg | 50.5/100 | £357 | £28,528 | £15,422 |
| 9 | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 49/100 | £341 | £28,454 | £14,731 |
| 10 | Bridgend / Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr | 45.1/100 | £364 | £30,377 | £15,725 |
| 11 | Newport / Casnewydd | 43.2/100 | £359 | £32,340 | £15,509 |
| 12 | Cardiff / Caerdydd | 40/100 | £383 | £33,599 | £16,546 |
| 13 | Wrexham / Wrecsam | 38.9/100 | £385 | £30,080 | £16,632 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for drive-thru restaurant premises in Wales?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in Wales is £304/m²/yr in Gwynedd. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Gwynedd ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for drive-thru restaurant in Gwynedd?
- For a 100 m² unit in Gwynedd, business rates are roughly £13,133/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £30,400/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a drive-thru restaurant in Wales?
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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).