Best areas to open hair & beauty salon in Wales
22 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 hair or beauty salon in Wales?
In Wales, the best area to open a hair or beauty salon is Blaenau Gwent, with a Gera Business Location Score of 66.2/100: premises at £46/m²/yr and local median pay £26,241. Cardiff / Caerdydd ranks lowest of 22 Wales authorities at 53.9/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top Wales area for hair & beauty salon: Blaenau Gwent.
How this is calculatedWales ranked for hair & beauty salon
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blaenau Gwent | 66.2/100 | £46 | £26,241 | £1,987 |
| 2 | Gwynedd | 65.1/100 | £69 | £25,217 | £2,981 |
| 3 | Pembrokeshire / Sir Benfro | 64.5/100 | £73 | £26,535 | £3,154 |
| 4 | Powys | 63.8/100 | £76 | £26,839 | £3,283 |
| 5 | Merthyr Tydfil / Merthyr Tudful | 63.3/100 | £67 | £27,843 | £2,894 |
| 6 | Denbighshire / Sir Ddinbych | 63.1/100 | £78 | £27,011 | £3,370 |
| 7 | Carmarthenshire / Sir Gaerfyrddin | 62.9/100 | £66 | £29,835 | £2,851 |
| 8 | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 62.7/100 | £70 | £28,454 | £3,024 |
| 9 | Conwy | 62.6/100 | £84 | £26,961 | £3,629 |
| 10 | Caerphilly / Caerffili | 61.9/100 | £79 | £28,187 | £3,413 |
| 11 | Isle of Anglesey / Ynys Môn | 61.8/100 | £73 | £29,867 | £3,154 |
| 12 | Ceredigion | 61.2/100 | £91 | £27,868 | £3,931 |
| 13 | Neath Port Talbot / Castell-nedd Port Talbot | 61/100 | £78 | £30,055 | £3,370 |
| 14 | Wrexham / Wrecsam | 60.2/100 | £88 | £30,080 | £3,802 |
| 15 | Bridgend / Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr | 59.5/100 | £92 | £30,377 | £3,974 |
| 16 | Swansea / Abertawe | 59.1/100 | £92 | £31,348 | £3,974 |
| 17 | Flintshire / Sir y Fflint | 59/100 | £77 | £34,480 | £3,326 |
| 18 | Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg | 58.5/100 | £114 | £28,528 | £4,925 |
| 19 | Torfaen / Tor-faen | 58.5/100 | £96 | £31,105 | £4,147 |
| 20 | Newport / Casnewydd | 57.6/100 | £100 | £32,340 | £4,320 |
| 21 | Monmouthshire / Sir Fynwy | 55.9/100 | £119 | £32,805 | £5,141 |
| 22 | Cardiff / Caerdydd | 53.9/100 | £131 | £33,599 | £5,659 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for hair & beauty salon premises in Wales?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in Wales is £46/m²/yr in Blaenau Gwent. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Blaenau Gwent ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for hair & beauty salon in Blaenau Gwent?
- For a 100 m² unit in Blaenau Gwent, business rates are roughly £1,987/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £4,600/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a hair or beauty salon 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).