Best areas to open retail shop 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 an independent retail shop in East?
In East, the best area to open an independent retail shop is Great Yarmouth, with a Gera Business Location Score of 66/100: premises at £70/m²/yr and local median pay £26,484. Cambridge ranks lowest of 45 East authorities at 47.4/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
East ranked for retail shop
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Yarmouth | 66/100 | £70 | £26,484 | £3,024 |
| 2 | North Norfolk | 65/100 | £114 | £26,296 | £4,925 |
| 3 | Fenland | 64.8/100 | £76 | £27,005 | £3,283 |
| 4 | Dacorum | 64.7/100 | £159 | £18,675 | £6,869 |
| 5 | Tendring | 64.4/100 | £87 | £27,067 | £3,758 |
| 6 | Babergh | 64.4/100 | £98 | £25,785 | £4,234 |
| 7 | Breckland | 63.7/100 | £83 | £28,303 | £3,586 |
| 8 | Maldon | 63.5/100 | £117 | £25,496 | £5,054 |
| 9 | Southend-on-Sea | 63.3/100 | £115 | £26,955 | £4,968 |
| 10 | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 63/100 | £84 | £30,544 | £3,629 |
| 11 | South Norfolk | 62.6/100 | £92 | £29,114 | £3,974 |
| 12 | East Suffolk | 62.4/100 | £99 | £30,821 | £4,277 |
| 13 | Ipswich | 62/100 | £101 | £30,605 | £4,363 |
| 14 | Castle Point | 61.8/100 | £124 | £27,524 | £5,357 |
| 15 | Rochford | 61/100 | £144 | £26,706 | £6,221 |
| 16 | West Suffolk | 61/100 | £131 | £29,613 | £5,659 |
| 17 | Central Bedfordshire | 60.6/100 | £106 | £30,963 | £4,579 |
| 18 | Norwich | 60.6/100 | £159 | £28,457 | £6,869 |
| 19 | Mid Suffolk | 60.3/100 | £94 | £32,413 | £4,061 |
| 20 | Luton | 59.9/100 | £140 | £29,640 | £6,048 |
| 21 | Broadland | 59.9/100 | £103 | £32,576 | £4,450 |
| 22 | Braintree | 59.8/100 | £114 | £32,175 | £4,925 |
| 23 | East Cambridgeshire | 59.6/100 | £131 | £30,232 | £5,659 |
| 24 | Huntingdonshire | 59.4/100 | £120 | £32,441 | £5,184 |
| 25 | Colchester | 59.1/100 | £142 | £31,056 | £6,134 |
| 26 | Bedford | 59/100 | £118 | £33,148 | £5,098 |
| 27 | Peterborough | 59/100 | £145 | £31,062 | £6,264 |
| 28 | Harlow | 58.9/100 | £127 | £32,320 | £5,486 |
| 29 | Broxbourne | 58.9/100 | £158 | £29,980 | £6,826 |
| 30 | East Hertfordshire | 57.7/100 | £155 | £32,293 | £6,696 |
| 31 | Uttlesford | 57.5/100 | £162 | £32,124 | £6,998 |
| 32 | Brentwood | 57.4/100 | £184 | £30,607 | £7,949 |
| 33 | Epping Forest | 57.3/100 | £195 | £30,038 | £8,424 |
| 34 | Basildon | 57.2/100 | £162 | £32,050 | £6,998 |
| 35 | North Hertfordshire | 57.1/100 | £155 | £33,409 | £6,696 |
| 36 | Watford | 56.8/100 | £189 | £31,833 | £8,165 |
| 37 | Chelmsford | 55.5/100 | £199 | £32,010 | £8,597 |
| 38 | Thurrock | 54.4/100 | £195 | £34,388 | £8,424 |
| 39 | South Cambridgeshire | 53.7/100 | £132 | £41,348 | £5,702 |
| 40 | Hertsmere | 53.5/100 | £208 | £36,000 | £8,986 |
| 41 | St Albans | 52.8/100 | £239 | £33,468 | £10,325 |
| 42 | Welwyn Hatfield | 52.7/100 | £171 | £39,794 | £7,387 |
| 43 | Stevenage | 51.5/100 | £176 | £41,224 | £7,603 |
| 44 | Three Rivers | 48.5/100 | £218 | £43,202 | £9,418 |
| 45 | Cambridge | 47.4/100 | £264 | £40,266 | £11,405 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for retail shop premises in East?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in East is £70/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 retail shop in Great Yarmouth?
- For a 100 m² unit in Great Yarmouth, business rates are roughly £3,024/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,000/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).