Best areas to open large distribution warehouse in East
13 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 large distribution warehouse in East?
In East, the best area to open a large distribution warehouse is Peterborough, with a Gera Business Location Score of 75.3/100: premises at £46/m²/yr and local median pay £31,062. Welwyn Hatfield ranks lowest of 13 East authorities at 30.7/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top East area for large distribution warehouse: Peterborough.
How this is calculatedEast ranked for large distribution warehouse
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peterborough | 75.3/100 | £46 | £31,062 | £1,987 |
| 2 | Thurrock | 65.8/100 | £85 | £34,388 | £3,672 |
| 3 | West Suffolk | 56.8/100 | £46 | £29,613 | £1,987 |
| 4 | Huntingdonshire | 56/100 | £50 | £32,441 | £2,160 |
| 5 | Mid Suffolk | 55.4/100 | £49 | £32,413 | £2,117 |
| 6 | Broadland | 48.6/100 | £56 | £32,576 | £2,419 |
| 7 | Central Bedfordshire | 48.4/100 | £73 | £30,963 | £3,154 |
| 8 | Basildon | 46.1/100 | £88 | £32,050 | £3,802 |
| 9 | Bedford | 45.4/100 | £73 | £33,148 | £3,154 |
| 10 | Dacorum | 45.2/100 | £118 | £18,675 | £5,098 |
| 11 | Harlow | 44.1/100 | £91 | £32,320 | £3,931 |
| 12 | Broxbourne | 39/100 | £104 | £29,980 | £4,493 |
| 13 | Welwyn Hatfield | 30.7/100 | £99 | £39,794 | £4,277 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for large distribution warehouse premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £46/m²/yr in Peterborough. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Peterborough ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for large distribution warehouse in Peterborough?
- For a 100 m² unit in Peterborough, 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.
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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).