Best areas to open large food store in South East
38 South 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 South East?
In South East, the best area to open a large food store is Isle of Wight, with a Gera Business Location Score of 62.8/100: premises at £153/m²/yr and local median pay £26,185. Reading ranks lowest of 38 South East authorities at 40.3/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South East area for large food store: Isle of Wight.
How this is calculatedSouth East ranked for large food store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle of Wight | 62.8/100 | £153 | £26,185 | £6,610 |
| 2 | Havant | 59.9/100 | £135 | £30,573 | £5,832 |
| 3 | Arun | 59.9/100 | £162 | £27,461 | £6,998 |
| 4 | Thanet | 59/100 | £177 | £27,076 | £7,646 |
| 5 | Wealden | 58.7/100 | £186 | £27,639 | £8,035 |
| 6 | New Forest | 58.7/100 | £174 | £30,071 | £7,517 |
| 7 | Cherwell | 58.1/100 | £148 | £33,207 | £6,394 |
| 8 | Chichester | 57.5/100 | £209 | £28,547 | £9,029 |
| 9 | Gosport | 56.3/100 | £150 | £30,518 | £6,480 |
| 10 | Folkestone and Hythe | 56.2/100 | £167 | £31,907 | £7,214 |
| 11 | Canterbury | 56/100 | £192 | £29,337 | £8,294 |
| 12 | Tunbridge Wells | 55.8/100 | £208 | £30,296 | £8,986 |
| 13 | Sevenoaks | 55.3/100 | £201 | £28,537 | £8,683 |
| 14 | Medway | 55.1/100 | £170 | £30,784 | £7,344 |
| 15 | Maidstone | 55/100 | £174 | £31,986 | £7,517 |
| 16 | East Hampshire | 54.9/100 | £193 | £30,143 | £8,338 |
| 17 | Dover | 54.8/100 | £178 | £31,547 | £7,690 |
| 18 | Windsor and Maidenhead | 54.7/100 | £171 | £34,570 | £7,387 |
| 19 | Southampton | 54.6/100 | £167 | £33,878 | £7,214 |
| 20 | Waverley | 54.4/100 | £200 | £31,083 | £8,640 |
| 21 | Portsmouth | 53.7/100 | £170 | £33,015 | £7,344 |
| 22 | Buckinghamshire | 53/100 | £186 | £33,367 | £8,035 |
| 23 | Milton Keynes | 52.9/100 | £158 | £36,521 | £6,826 |
| 24 | Eastleigh | 52.9/100 | £158 | £35,362 | £6,826 |
| 25 | Swale | 52.9/100 | £196 | £29,831 | £8,467 |
| 26 | Test Valley | 52.7/100 | £179 | £33,566 | £7,733 |
| 27 | Tonbridge and Malling | 52.7/100 | £186 | £31,472 | £8,035 |
| 28 | Fareham | 52.6/100 | £185 | £32,895 | £7,992 |
| 29 | Horsham | 52.1/100 | £204 | £32,334 | £8,813 |
| 30 | Hart | 51.7/100 | £194 | £30,973 | £8,381 |
| 31 | West Oxfordshire | 51.7/100 | £192 | £34,006 | £8,294 |
| 32 | Gravesham | 49.7/100 | £198 | £34,455 | £8,554 |
| 33 | Basingstoke and Deane | 49.6/100 | £183 | £35,492 | £7,906 |
| 34 | West Berkshire | 46.6/100 | £216 | £35,806 | £9,331 |
| 35 | Vale of White Horse | 46/100 | £196 | £38,134 | £8,467 |
| 36 | Oxford | 45.3/100 | £206 | £38,779 | £8,899 |
| 37 | Wokingham | 43.8/100 | £214 | £38,552 | £9,245 |
| 38 | Reading | 40.3/100 | £212 | £44,956 | £9,158 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for large food store premises in South East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South East is £135/m²/yr in Havant. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Isle of Wight ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for large food store in Isle of Wight?
- For a 100 m² unit in Isle of Wight, business rates are roughly £6,610/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £15,300/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).