Best areas to open large food store in South West
19 South West 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 West?
In South West, the best area to open a large food store is Cornwall, with a Gera Business Location Score of 62.5/100: premises at £165/m²/yr and local median pay £27,006. South Gloucestershire ranks lowest of 19 South West authorities at 48.7/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for large food store: Cornwall.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for large food store
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwall | 62.5/100 | £165 | £27,006 | £7,128 |
| 2 | Cotswold | 61/100 | £199 | £29,655 | £8,597 |
| 3 | Forest of Dean | 60.1/100 | £165 | £25,387 | £7,128 |
| 4 | Torbay | 59.9/100 | £167 | £28,066 | £7,214 |
| 5 | Dorset | 59.8/100 | £176 | £29,292 | £7,603 |
| 6 | Teignbridge | 59.8/100 | £156 | £28,636 | £6,739 |
| 7 | East Devon | 58.8/100 | £155 | £31,874 | £6,696 |
| 8 | North Somerset | 58.2/100 | £167 | £28,749 | £7,214 |
| 9 | Somerset | 58/100 | £175 | £29,152 | £7,560 |
| 10 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 57.5/100 | £164 | £31,121 | £7,085 |
| 11 | Wiltshire | 56.6/100 | £174 | £30,000 | £7,517 |
| 12 | Stroud | 56.1/100 | £163 | £32,495 | £7,042 |
| 13 | Exeter | 56/100 | £179 | £30,138 | £7,733 |
| 14 | Plymouth | 55.8/100 | £165 | £30,346 | £7,128 |
| 15 | Gloucester | 55/100 | £177 | £30,796 | £7,646 |
| 16 | Swindon | 52.5/100 | £175 | £32,933 | £7,560 |
| 17 | Tewkesbury | 52/100 | £157 | £37,088 | £6,782 |
| 18 | Bristol, City of | 49.7/100 | £179 | £36,652 | £7,733 |
| 19 | South Gloucestershire | 48.7/100 | £182 | £36,920 | £7,862 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for large food store premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £155/m²/yr in East Devon. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Cornwall ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for large food store in Cornwall?
- For a 100 m² unit in Cornwall, business rates are roughly £7,128/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £16,500/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a large food store in South West?
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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).