Best areas to open restaurant in East
45 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 restaurant in East?
In East, the best area to open a restaurant is Great Yarmouth, with a Gera Business Location Score of 64.9/100: premises at £74/m²/yr and local median pay £26,484. Cambridge ranks lowest of 45 East authorities at 42.7/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
East ranked for restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Yarmouth | 64.9/100 | £74 | £26,484 | £3,197 |
| 2 | Fenland | 63.5/100 | £75 | £27,005 | £3,240 |
| 3 | North Norfolk | 63.4/100 | £103 | £26,296 | £4,450 |
| 4 | Maldon | 62.7/100 | £98 | £25,496 | £4,234 |
| 5 | Babergh | 62.6/100 | £97 | £25,785 | £4,190 |
| 6 | Breckland | 61.7/100 | £91 | £28,303 | £3,931 |
| 7 | Tendring | 61.5/100 | £101 | £27,067 | £4,363 |
| 8 | South Norfolk | 61.4/100 | £87 | £29,114 | £3,758 |
| 9 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 61.3/100 | £87 | £30,544 | £3,758 |
| 10 | Castle Point | 60.9/100 | £100 | £27,524 | £4,320 |
| 11 | East Suffolk | 60.4/100 | £97 | £30,821 | £4,190 |
| 12 | Southend-on-Sea | 60.1/100 | £120 | £26,955 | £5,184 |
| 13 | Mid Suffolk | 59.6/100 | £88 | £32,413 | £3,802 |
| 14 | Luton | 58.8/100 | £112 | £29,640 | £4,838 |
| 15 | Huntingdonshire | 58.7/100 | £99 | £32,441 | £4,277 |
| 16 | Dacorum | 58.7/100 | £183 | £18,675 | £7,906 |
| 17 | Broadland | 58.4/100 | £98 | £32,576 | £4,234 |
| 18 | Central Bedfordshire | 57.9/100 | £116 | £30,963 | £5,011 |
| 19 | Peterborough | 57.7/100 | £118 | £31,062 | £5,098 |
| 20 | Broxbourne | 57.7/100 | £127 | £29,980 | £5,486 |
| 21 | Bedford | 57.5/100 | £109 | £33,148 | £4,709 |
| 22 | Ipswich | 57.5/100 | £125 | £30,605 | £5,400 |
| 23 | Rochford | 57.4/100 | £145 | £26,706 | £6,264 |
| 24 | West Suffolk | 57.4/100 | £136 | £29,613 | £5,875 |
| 25 | Brentwood | 57/100 | £131 | £30,607 | £5,659 |
| 26 | Norwich | 57/100 | £150 | £28,457 | £6,480 |
| 27 | Braintree | 56.5/100 | £124 | £32,175 | £5,357 |
| 28 | Colchester | 56.1/100 | £137 | £31,056 | £5,918 |
| 29 | Uttlesford | 55.8/100 | £137 | £32,124 | £5,918 |
| 30 | North Hertfordshire | 55.4/100 | £137 | £33,409 | £5,918 |
| 31 | East Hertfordshire | 55.2/100 | £144 | £32,293 | £6,221 |
| 32 | Harlow | 54.8/100 | £142 | £32,320 | £6,134 |
| 33 | East Cambridgeshire | 54.4/100 | £162 | £30,232 | £6,998 |
| 34 | Epping Forest | 54.1/100 | £171 | £30,038 | £7,387 |
| 35 | Watford | 53.7/100 | £165 | £31,833 | £7,128 |
| 36 | Basildon | 52.6/100 | £168 | £32,050 | £7,258 |
| 37 | South Cambridgeshire | 52.1/100 | £122 | £41,348 | £5,270 |
| 38 | Chelmsford | 51.8/100 | £182 | £32,010 | £7,862 |
| 39 | Hertsmere | 49.1/100 | £197 | £36,000 | £8,510 |
| 40 | Welwyn Hatfield | 48.2/100 | £175 | £39,794 | £7,560 |
| 41 | St Albans | 47.5/100 | £228 | £33,468 | £9,850 |
| 42 | Stevenage | 47.4/100 | £178 | £41,224 | £7,690 |
| 43 | Three Rivers | 46/100 | £183 | £43,202 | £7,906 |
| 44 | Thurrock | 43.9/100 | £256 | £34,388 | £11,059 |
| 45 | Cambridge | 42.7/100 | £245 | £40,266 | £10,584 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for restaurant premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £74/m²/yr in Great Yarmouth. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Great Yarmouth ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for restaurant in Great Yarmouth?
- For a 100 m² unit in Great Yarmouth, business rates are roughly £3,197/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,400/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).