Best areas to open large food store in East
32 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 food store in East?
In East, the best area to open a large food store is North Norfolk, with a Gera Business Location Score of 65.6/100: premises at £159/m²/yr and local median pay £26,296. Cambridge ranks lowest of 32 East authorities at 45.7/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top East area for large food store: North Norfolk.
How this is calculatedEast ranked for large food store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Norfolk | 65.6/100 | £159 | £26,296 | £6,869 |
| 2 | Dacorum | 65.3/100 | £180 | £18,675 | £7,776 |
| 3 | Great Yarmouth | 62.7/100 | £151 | £26,484 | £6,523 |
| 4 | Southend-on-Sea | 62.3/100 | £154 | £26,955 | £6,653 |
| 5 | Tendring | 61.9/100 | £148 | £27,067 | £6,394 |
| 6 | Norwich | 61.8/100 | £160 | £28,457 | £6,912 |
| 7 | Fenland | 61.1/100 | £150 | £27,005 | £6,480 |
| 8 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 60.6/100 | £138 | £30,544 | £5,962 |
| 9 | Broxbourne | 60.5/100 | £140 | £29,980 | £6,048 |
| 10 | Breckland | 60.1/100 | £150 | £28,303 | £6,480 |
| 11 | West Suffolk | 60.1/100 | £155 | £29,613 | £6,696 |
| 12 | Castle Point | 59.9/100 | £157 | £27,524 | £6,782 |
| 13 | Peterborough | 58.2/100 | £152 | £31,062 | £6,566 |
| 14 | Thurrock | 57.6/100 | £130 | £34,388 | £5,616 |
| 15 | Epping Forest | 57.6/100 | £180 | £30,038 | £7,776 |
| 16 | East Suffolk | 57.5/100 | £175 | £30,821 | £7,560 |
| 17 | Braintree | 56.9/100 | £147 | £32,175 | £6,350 |
| 18 | Colchester | 56.8/100 | £162 | £31,056 | £6,998 |
| 19 | South Norfolk | 56/100 | £176 | £29,114 | £7,603 |
| 20 | Ipswich | 55.7/100 | £186 | £30,605 | £8,035 |
| 21 | Basildon | 55.3/100 | £164 | £32,050 | £7,085 |
| 22 | Luton | 54.8/100 | £193 | £29,640 | £8,338 |
| 23 | Chelmsford | 54.7/100 | £178 | £32,010 | £7,690 |
| 24 | Huntingdonshire | 54.5/100 | £169 | £32,441 | £7,301 |
| 25 | North Hertfordshire | 54.1/100 | £169 | £33,409 | £7,301 |
| 26 | East Hertfordshire | 53.6/100 | £184 | £32,293 | £7,949 |
| 27 | St Albans | 53.6/100 | £185 | £33,468 | £7,992 |
| 28 | Central Bedfordshire | 53.3/100 | £184 | £30,963 | £7,949 |
| 29 | Broadland | 52.1/100 | £183 | £32,576 | £7,906 |
| 30 | Bedford | 51.9/100 | £185 | £33,148 | £7,992 |
| 31 | Welwyn Hatfield | 51.9/100 | £136 | £39,794 | £5,875 |
| 32 | Cambridge | 45.7/100 | £197 | £40,266 | £8,510 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for large food store premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £130/m²/yr in Thurrock. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, North Norfolk ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for large food store in North Norfolk?
- For a 100 m² unit in North Norfolk, business rates are roughly £6,869/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £15,900/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a large food store 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).