Best areas to open office-based business 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 an office-based business in North East?
In North East, the best area to open an office-based business is South Tyneside, with a Gera Business Location Score of 65.4/100: premises at £61/m²/yr and local median pay £25,490. Newcastle upon Tyne ranks lowest of 12 North East authorities at 58.6/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top North East area for office-based business: South Tyneside.
How this is calculatedNorth East ranked for office-based business
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Tyneside | 65.4/100 | £61 | £25,490 | £2,635 |
| 2 | Redcar and Cleveland | 65.2/100 | £46 | £28,356 | £1,987 |
| 3 | Hartlepool | 64.1/100 | £61 | £28,204 | £2,635 |
| 4 | County Durham | 62.8/100 | £69 | £29,393 | £2,981 |
| 5 | Stockton-on-Tees | 62.7/100 | £72 | £29,537 | £3,110 |
| 6 | Middlesbrough | 62.6/100 | £72 | £29,502 | £3,110 |
| 7 | Northumberland | 62.5/100 | £85 | £27,769 | £3,672 |
| 8 | Sunderland | 62.4/100 | £81 | £28,214 | £3,499 |
| 9 | Darlington | 62.2/100 | £76 | £29,692 | £3,283 |
| 10 | Gateshead | 61.9/100 | £86 | £28,507 | £3,715 |
| 11 | North Tyneside | 60.5/100 | £100 | £29,311 | £4,320 |
| 12 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 58.6/100 | £108 | £31,786 | £4,666 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for office-based business premises in North East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in North East is £46/m²/yr in Redcar and Cleveland. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, South Tyneside ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for office-based business in South Tyneside?
- For a 100 m² unit in South Tyneside, business rates are roughly £2,635/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £6,100/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening an office-based business 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).