Best areas to open retail shop in West Midlands
30 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 an independent retail shop in West Midlands?
In West Midlands, the best area to open an independent retail shop is Staffordshire Moorlands, with a Gera Business Location Score of 64.8/100: premises at £78/m²/yr and local median pay £26,204. Stratford-on-Avon ranks lowest of 30 West Midlands authorities at 53.2/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top West Midlands area for retail shop: Staffordshire Moorlands.
How this is calculatedWest Midlands ranked for retail shop
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Staffordshire Moorlands | 64.8/100 | £78 | £26,204 | £3,370 |
| 2 | Wyre Forest | 64.6/100 | £80 | £27,346 | £3,456 |
| 3 | Herefordshire, County of | 64.5/100 | £92 | £28,366 | £3,974 |
| 4 | Malvern Hills | 64.4/100 | £86 | £27,744 | £3,715 |
| 5 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 64.1/100 | £82 | £27,238 | £3,542 |
| 6 | Sandwell | 63.9/100 | £80 | £28,766 | £3,456 |
| 7 | Bromsgrove | 63.7/100 | £91 | £27,494 | £3,931 |
| 8 | Cannock Chase | 63.6/100 | £82 | £29,719 | £3,542 |
| 9 | Walsall | 63.4/100 | £87 | £28,691 | £3,758 |
| 10 | Stoke-on-Trent | 63.1/100 | £74 | £30,767 | £3,197 |
| 11 | Stafford | 62.7/100 | £107 | £28,523 | £4,622 |
| 12 | Shropshire | 62.5/100 | £115 | £28,397 | £4,968 |
| 13 | Dudley | 62/100 | £110 | £29,071 | £4,752 |
| 14 | South Staffordshire | 61.8/100 | £109 | £28,259 | £4,709 |
| 15 | Worcester | 61.8/100 | £105 | £30,003 | £4,536 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton | 61.6/100 | £94 | £32,053 | £4,061 |
| 17 | East Staffordshire | 61.5/100 | £100 | £31,048 | £4,320 |
| 18 | Nuneaton and Bedworth | 61.5/100 | £91 | £31,319 | £3,931 |
| 19 | Wychavon | 61.4/100 | £100 | £32,022 | £4,320 |
| 20 | Lichfield | 61.1/100 | £126 | £28,845 | £5,443 |
| 21 | Tamworth | 61.1/100 | £129 | £28,143 | £5,573 |
| 22 | North Warwickshire | 60/100 | £89 | £34,564 | £3,845 |
| 23 | Redditch | 59.4/100 | £136 | £30,780 | £5,875 |
| 24 | Rugby | 58.8/100 | £94 | £36,417 | £4,061 |
| 25 | Telford and Wrekin | 58.5/100 | £153 | £30,601 | £6,610 |
| 26 | Birmingham | 58.5/100 | £140 | £33,374 | £6,048 |
| 27 | Warwick | 58/100 | £143 | £33,616 | £6,178 |
| 28 | Coventry | 57.9/100 | £122 | £35,124 | £5,270 |
| 29 | Solihull | 56.1/100 | £157 | £35,794 | £6,782 |
| 30 | Stratford-on-Avon | 53.2/100 | £150 | £42,929 | £6,480 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for retail shop premises in West Midlands?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in West Midlands is £74/m²/yr in Stoke-on-Trent. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Staffordshire Moorlands ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for retail shop in Staffordshire Moorlands?
- For a 100 m² unit in Staffordshire Moorlands, business rates are roughly £3,370/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £7,800/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).