Best areas to open members / social club in South West
26 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 licensed members or social club in South West?
In South West, the best area to open a licensed members or social club is Forest of Dean, with a Gera Business Location Score of 65.8/100: premises at £33/m²/yr and local median pay £25,387. Cheltenham ranks lowest of 26 South West authorities at 58/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for members / social club: Forest of Dean.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for members / social club
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forest of Dean | 65.8/100 | £33 | £25,387 | £1,426 |
| 2 | Torridge | 65.6/100 | £28 | £26,745 | £1,210 |
| 3 | West Devon | 65.6/100 | £24 | £28,161 | £1,037 |
| 4 | Cotswold | 65.4/100 | £34 | £29,655 | £1,469 |
| 5 | Cornwall | 65.3/100 | £31 | £27,006 | £1,339 |
| 6 | Dorset | 65/100 | £27 | £29,292 | £1,166 |
| 7 | North Devon | 65/100 | £30 | £27,526 | £1,296 |
| 8 | Torbay | 64.8/100 | £28 | £28,066 | £1,210 |
| 9 | South Hams | 64.8/100 | £33 | £28,329 | £1,426 |
| 10 | North Somerset | 64.7/100 | £27 | £28,749 | £1,166 |
| 11 | Somerset | 64.6/100 | £27 | £29,152 | £1,166 |
| 12 | Mid Devon | 64.5/100 | £29 | £29,224 | £1,253 |
| 13 | Teignbridge | 64.3/100 | £32 | £28,636 | £1,382 |
| 14 | Wiltshire | 64.1/100 | £29 | £30,000 | £1,253 |
| 15 | Plymouth | 63.4/100 | £26 | £30,346 | £1,123 |
| 16 | Exeter | 63.4/100 | £30 | £30,138 | £1,296 |
| 17 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 63.2/100 | £30 | £31,121 | £1,296 |
| 18 | East Devon | 63.2/100 | £29 | £31,874 | £1,253 |
| 19 | Bath and North East Somerset | 62.9/100 | £30 | £32,004 | £1,296 |
| 20 | Gloucester | 62.9/100 | £31 | £30,796 | £1,339 |
| 21 | Stroud | 61.8/100 | £38 | £32,495 | £1,642 |
| 22 | Swindon | 61.6/100 | £31 | £32,933 | £1,339 |
| 23 | Tewkesbury | 60.3/100 | £28 | £37,088 | £1,210 |
| 24 | Bristol, City of | 60/100 | £32 | £36,652 | £1,382 |
| 25 | South Gloucestershire | 59.8/100 | £30 | £36,920 | £1,296 |
| 26 | Cheltenham | 58/100 | £60 | £35,202 | £2,592 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for members / social club premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £24/m²/yr in West Devon. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Forest of Dean ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for members / social club in Forest of Dean?
- For a 100 m² unit in Forest of Dean, business rates are roughly £1,426/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £3,300/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a licensed members or social club in South West?
Set up your UK GDPR and EU AI Act compliance from day one with a fixed-scope GeraCompliance sprint.
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).