Best UK areas to open pharmacy
126 local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real commercial rent, local wages, business rates and market density.
Which UK areas are best for opening a pharmacy in 2026?
The best UK area to open a pharmacy is Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg (Wales), with a Gera Business Location Score of 77.6/100: premises at £205/m²/yr and local median pay of £28,528. South Gloucestershire ranks lowest at 20.1/100. Ranked across 126 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top area for pharmacy: Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg.
How this is calculatedTop 10 areas for pharmacy
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg | Wales | 77.6/100 | £205 | £28,528 | £8,856 |
| 2 | Conwy | Wales | 76.4/100 | £295 | £26,961 | £12,744 |
| 3 | Trafford | North West | 73.1/100 | £327 | £31,516 | £14,126 |
| 4 | Chorley | North West | 72.3/100 | £146 | £29,415 | £6,307 |
| 5 | Pembrokeshire / Sir Benfro | Wales | 70.1/100 | £249 | £26,535 | £10,757 |
| 6 | Kirklees | Yorkshire and The Humber | 70/100 | £251 | £28,821 | £10,843 |
| 7 | Herefordshire, County of | West Midlands | 70/100 | £239 | £28,366 | £10,325 |
| 8 | East Staffordshire | West Midlands | 69.6/100 | £168 | £31,048 | £7,258 |
| 9 | Preston | North West | 69.3/100 | £197 | £32,655 | £8,510 |
| 10 | Bradford | Yorkshire and The Humber | 68.3/100 | £232 | £29,745 | £10,022 |
Filter by your budget
Set a premises size and monthly budget to shortlist the areas that fit.
Budget covers estimated annual rent (VOA rateable value × floor area) plus the 2026-27 small-business rates bill (43.2p multiplier), spread over 12 months. Real reliefs (e.g. Small Business Rate Relief) can reduce the rates portion further.
Best areas to open a pharmacy within £2,000/month
- 1Vale of Glamorgan / Bro MorgannwgWalesGBLS 77.6≈ £1,957/mo
- 2ChorleyNorth WestGBLS 72.3≈ £1,394/mo
- 3East StaffordshireWest MidlandsGBLS 69.6≈ £1,604/mo
- 4PrestonNorth WestGBLS 69.3≈ £1,881/mo
- 5Kingston upon Hull, City ofYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 68≈ £1,823/mo
- 6SandwellWest MidlandsGBLS 67.5≈ £1,718/mo
- 7DerbyEast MidlandsGBLS 61.7≈ £1,995/mo
- 8AshfieldEast MidlandsGBLS 61.6≈ £1,814/mo
- 9North NorthamptonshireEast MidlandsGBLS 61.3≈ £1,938/mo
- 10BolsoverEast MidlandsGBLS 60.3≈ £1,642/mo
- 11North West LeicestershireEast MidlandsGBLS 59.3≈ £1,881/mo
- 12South DerbyshireEast MidlandsGBLS 58.6≈ £1,642/mo
Pharmacy by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a pharmacy in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 126 ranked areas is £146/m²/yr in Chorley. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg ranks #1 at 77.6/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for pharmacy premises in Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg?
- In Vale of Glamorgan / Bro Morgannwg, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £205 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £20,500/yr rent, plus roughly £8,856/yr business rates at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p) — before any Small Business Rate Relief.
- What data is this based on?
- VOA Non-Domestic Rating Business Floorspace (rateable value per m², 31 March 2025), ONS UK Business Counts 2025 (market density), ONS ASHE 2025 (local wages) and ONS mid-2024 population — all Open Government Licence v3.0, joined on the ONS local-authority code.
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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).