Best areas to open retail warehouse in West Midlands
27 West Midlands local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real rent, wages, rates and market density.
Where is the best place to open a retail warehouse / foodstore in West Midlands?
In West Midlands, the best area to open a retail warehouse / foodstore is Herefordshire, County of, with a Gera Business Location Score of 75.6/100: premises at £69/m²/yr and local median pay £28,366. Warwick ranks lowest of 27 West Midlands authorities at 49.2/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top West Midlands area for retail warehouse: Herefordshire, County of.
How this is calculatedWest Midlands ranked for retail warehouse
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herefordshire, County of | 75.6/100 | £69 | £28,366 | £2,981 |
| 2 | Walsall | 68/100 | £75 | £28,691 | £3,240 |
| 3 | Shropshire | 67.4/100 | £104 | £28,397 | £4,493 |
| 4 | Cannock Chase | 67.2/100 | £96 | £29,719 | £4,147 |
| 5 | Wyre Forest | 66.8/100 | £98 | £27,346 | £4,234 |
| 6 | Bromsgrove | 66.7/100 | £90 | £27,494 | £3,888 |
| 7 | Dudley | 66/100 | £94 | £29,071 | £4,061 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton | 65.6/100 | £93 | £32,053 | £4,018 |
| 9 | Stafford | 64.9/100 | £116 | £28,523 | £5,011 |
| 10 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 64.7/100 | £96 | £27,238 | £4,147 |
| 11 | East Staffordshire | 64.5/100 | £96 | £31,048 | £4,147 |
| 12 | Lichfield | 64.5/100 | £101 | £28,845 | £4,363 |
| 13 | Wychavon | 64.2/100 | £111 | £32,022 | £4,795 |
| 14 | Nuneaton and Bedworth | 63.4/100 | £85 | £31,319 | £3,672 |
| 15 | Birmingham | 63.1/100 | £115 | £33,374 | £4,968 |
| 16 | Stoke-on-Trent | 62.9/100 | £108 | £30,767 | £4,666 |
| 17 | Redditch | 62.3/100 | £103 | £30,780 | £4,450 |
| 18 | Worcester | 60.5/100 | £133 | £30,003 | £5,746 |
| 19 | Sandwell | 58/100 | £159 | £28,766 | £6,869 |
| 20 | Malvern Hills | 56.5/100 | £191 | £27,744 | £8,251 |
| 21 | Coventry | 56.4/100 | £128 | £35,124 | £5,530 |
| 22 | Telford and Wrekin | 56.3/100 | £151 | £30,601 | £6,523 |
| 23 | Tamworth | 53.8/100 | £179 | £28,143 | £7,733 |
| 24 | Rugby | 53/100 | £148 | £36,417 | £6,394 |
| 25 | Stratford-on-Avon | 50.5/100 | £174 | £42,929 | £7,517 |
| 26 | Solihull | 50/100 | £195 | £35,794 | £8,424 |
| 27 | Warwick | 49.2/100 | £213 | £33,616 | £9,202 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for retail warehouse premises in West Midlands?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in West Midlands is £69/m²/yr in Herefordshire, County of. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Herefordshire, County of ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for retail warehouse in Herefordshire, County of?
- For a 100 m² unit in Herefordshire, County of, business rates are roughly £2,981/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £6,900/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).