Best areas to open large food store in North East
12 North 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 North East?
In North East, the best area to open a large food store is South Tyneside, with a Gera Business Location Score of 62.3/100: premises at £141/m²/yr and local median pay £25,490. Stockton-on-Tees ranks lowest of 12 North East authorities at 57.8/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top North East area for large food store: South Tyneside.
How this is calculatedNorth East ranked for large food store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Tyneside | 62.3/100 | £141 | £25,490 | £6,091 |
| 2 | Redcar and Cleveland | 61.8/100 | £125 | £28,356 | £5,400 |
| 3 | Northumberland | 61.7/100 | £143 | £27,769 | £6,178 |
| 4 | Middlesbrough | 61.6/100 | £121 | £29,502 | £5,227 |
| 5 | Gateshead | 61.1/100 | £145 | £28,507 | £6,264 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 60.9/100 | £138 | £28,214 | £5,962 |
| 7 | County Durham | 60/100 | £134 | £29,393 | £5,789 |
| 8 | Darlington | 60/100 | £149 | £29,692 | £6,437 |
| 9 | Hartlepool | 58.6/100 | £155 | £28,204 | £6,696 |
| 10 | North Tyneside | 58.5/100 | £150 | £29,311 | £6,480 |
| 11 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 57.9/100 | £144 | £31,786 | £6,221 |
| 12 | Stockton-on-Tees | 57.8/100 | £151 | £29,537 | £6,523 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for large food store premises in North East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in North East is £121/m²/yr in Middlesbrough. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, South Tyneside ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for large food store in South Tyneside?
- For a 100 m² unit in South Tyneside, business rates are roughly £6,091/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £14,100/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a large food store in North 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).