Best areas to open restaurant 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 restaurant in South West?
In South West, the best area to open a restaurant is Forest of Dean, with a Gera Business Location Score of 64.7/100: premises at £76/m²/yr and local median pay £25,387. Bristol, City of ranks lowest of 26 South West authorities at 48.4/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top South West area for restaurant: Forest of Dean.
How this is calculatedSouth West ranked for restaurant
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forest of Dean | 64.7/100 | £76 | £25,387 | £3,283 |
| 2 | North Devon | 63.5/100 | £92 | £27,526 | £3,974 |
| 3 | Torridge | 62.9/100 | £92 | £26,745 | £3,974 |
| 4 | Mid Devon | 62.8/100 | £73 | £29,224 | £3,154 |
| 5 | West Devon | 61.8/100 | £100 | £28,161 | £4,320 |
| 6 | Torbay | 61.5/100 | £105 | £28,066 | £4,536 |
| 7 | Cornwall | 61/100 | £124 | £27,006 | £5,357 |
| 8 | Somerset | 60.5/100 | £104 | £29,152 | £4,493 |
| 9 | East Devon | 60.5/100 | £89 | £31,874 | £3,845 |
| 10 | Teignbridge | 60.1/100 | £113 | £28,636 | £4,882 |
| 11 | Dorset | 59.4/100 | £123 | £29,292 | £5,314 |
| 12 | Stroud | 58.9/100 | £100 | £32,495 | £4,320 |
| 13 | Wiltshire | 58.6/100 | £117 | £30,000 | £5,054 |
| 14 | Cotswold | 58.5/100 | £139 | £29,655 | £6,005 |
| 15 | Swindon | 57.6/100 | £108 | £32,933 | £4,666 |
| 16 | South Hams | 57.6/100 | £158 | £28,329 | £6,826 |
| 17 | Gloucester | 57/100 | £130 | £30,796 | £5,616 |
| 18 | Tewkesbury | 57/100 | £94 | £37,088 | £4,061 |
| 19 | North Somerset | 56.8/100 | £147 | £28,749 | £6,350 |
| 20 | Plymouth | 55.3/100 | £153 | £30,346 | £6,610 |
| 21 | Bath and North East Somerset | 54.1/100 | £161 | £32,004 | £6,955 |
| 22 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 53.9/100 | £167 | £31,121 | £7,214 |
| 23 | Exeter | 53.4/100 | £177 | £30,138 | £7,646 |
| 24 | Cheltenham | 53/100 | £158 | £35,202 | £6,826 |
| 25 | South Gloucestershire | 49.8/100 | £174 | £36,920 | £7,517 |
| 26 | Bristol, City of | 48.4/100 | £197 | £36,652 | £8,510 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for restaurant premises in South West?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in South West is £73/m²/yr in Mid 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 restaurant in Forest of Dean?
- For a 100 m² unit in Forest of Dean, business rates are roughly £3,283/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,600/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).