Best areas to open garden centre in East
30 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 garden centre in East?
In East, the best area to open a garden centre is North Norfolk, with a Gera Business Location Score of 66.2/100: premises at £14/m²/yr and local median pay £26,296. South Cambridgeshire ranks lowest of 30 East authorities at 20.4/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
East ranked for garden centre
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Norfolk | 66.2/100 | £14 | £26,296 | £605 |
| 2 | Dacorum | 64.7/100 | £14 | £18,675 | £605 |
| 3 | Epping Forest | 60.8/100 | £10 | £30,038 | £432 |
| 4 | Great Yarmouth | 59.4/100 | £13 | £26,484 | £562 |
| 5 | Tendring | 58.4/100 | £12 | £27,067 | £518 |
| 6 | West Suffolk | 57.9/100 | £12 | £29,613 | £518 |
| 7 | Uttlesford | 57.8/100 | £8 | £32,124 | £346 |
| 8 | East Suffolk | 57.8/100 | £12 | £30,821 | £518 |
| 9 | Brentwood | 56.2/100 | £12 | £30,607 | £518 |
| 10 | Rochford | 54.5/100 | £14 | £26,706 | £605 |
| 11 | Babergh | 53.7/100 | £17 | £25,785 | £734 |
| 12 | Fenland | 53.6/100 | £15 | £27,005 | £648 |
| 13 | Breckland | 52.3/100 | £15 | £28,303 | £648 |
| 14 | Thurrock | 51.5/100 | £11 | £34,388 | £475 |
| 15 | Mid Suffolk | 51.5/100 | £9 | £32,413 | £389 |
| 16 | South Norfolk | 51.1/100 | £14 | £29,114 | £605 |
| 17 | Chelmsford | 49.6/100 | £15 | £32,010 | £648 |
| 18 | North Hertfordshire | 49.6/100 | £13 | £33,409 | £562 |
| 19 | Braintree | 48.5/100 | £14 | £32,175 | £605 |
| 20 | Broadland | 47.7/100 | £13 | £32,576 | £562 |
| 21 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 46.3/100 | £20 | £30,544 | £864 |
| 22 | Central Bedfordshire | 46/100 | £16 | £30,963 | £691 |
| 23 | Bedford | 44.6/100 | £16 | £33,148 | £691 |
| 24 | East Hertfordshire | 44/100 | £19 | £32,293 | £821 |
| 25 | Colchester | 42.7/100 | £21 | £31,056 | £907 |
| 26 | St Albans | 41.4/100 | £22 | £33,468 | £950 |
| 27 | Peterborough | 39.9/100 | £24 | £31,062 | £1,037 |
| 28 | Huntingdonshire | 39/100 | £22 | £32,441 | £950 |
| 29 | Basildon | 35.9/100 | £25 | £32,050 | £1,080 |
| 30 | South Cambridgeshire | 20.4/100 | £28 | £41,348 | £1,210 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for garden centre premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £8/m²/yr in Uttlesford. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, North Norfolk ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for garden centre in North Norfolk?
- For a 100 m² unit in North Norfolk, business rates are roughly £605/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £1,400/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a garden centre 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).