Best areas to open large distribution warehouse in West Midlands
22 West Midlands 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 West Midlands?
In West Midlands, the best area to open a large distribution warehouse is Sandwell, with a Gera Business Location Score of 67.6/100: premises at £51/m²/yr and local median pay £28,766. Stratford-on-Avon ranks lowest of 22 West Midlands authorities at 36.1/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top West Midlands area for large distribution warehouse: Sandwell.
How this is calculatedWest Midlands ranked for large distribution warehouse
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandwell | 67.6/100 | £51 | £28,766 | £2,203 |
| 2 | Walsall | 63.5/100 | £48 | £28,691 | £2,074 |
| 3 | Stoke-on-Trent | 61.6/100 | £47 | £30,767 | £2,030 |
| 4 | Wolverhampton | 60.7/100 | £53 | £32,053 | £2,290 |
| 5 | East Staffordshire | 60.6/100 | £52 | £31,048 | £2,246 |
| 6 | Wychavon | 60.5/100 | £56 | £32,022 | £2,419 |
| 7 | Rugby | 59.8/100 | £63 | £36,417 | £2,722 |
| 8 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 58.5/100 | £44 | £27,238 | £1,901 |
| 9 | Nuneaton and Bedworth | 58.1/100 | £59 | £31,319 | £2,549 |
| 10 | North Warwickshire | 57/100 | £61 | £34,564 | £2,635 |
| 11 | Cannock Chase | 56.8/100 | £48 | £29,719 | £2,074 |
| 12 | Tamworth | 56.8/100 | £61 | £28,143 | £2,635 |
| 13 | Worcester | 55.4/100 | £53 | £30,003 | £2,290 |
| 14 | Lichfield | 53.8/100 | £58 | £28,845 | £2,506 |
| 15 | Redditch | 53.8/100 | £64 | £30,780 | £2,765 |
| 16 | Bromsgrove | 53.7/100 | £57 | £27,494 | £2,462 |
| 17 | Stafford | 52.1/100 | £59 | £28,523 | £2,549 |
| 18 | Coventry | 52/100 | £60 | £35,124 | £2,592 |
| 19 | Birmingham | 49.5/100 | £61 | £33,374 | £2,635 |
| 20 | Solihull | 45.7/100 | £59 | £35,794 | £2,549 |
| 21 | Warwick | 44.3/100 | £62 | £33,616 | £2,678 |
| 22 | Stratford-on-Avon | 36.1/100 | £65 | £42,929 | £2,808 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for large distribution warehouse premises in West Midlands?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in West Midlands is £44/m²/yr in Newcastle-under-Lyme. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Sandwell ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for large distribution warehouse in Sandwell?
- For a 100 m² unit in Sandwell, business rates are roughly £2,203/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £5,100/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).