Best areas to open superstore / hypermarket in West Midlands
20 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 superstore or hypermarket in West Midlands?
In West Midlands, the best area to open a superstore or hypermarket is Sandwell, with a Gera Business Location Score of 59.6/100: premises at £135/m²/yr and local median pay £28,766. Stratford-on-Avon ranks lowest of 20 West Midlands authorities at 41.8/100. From 2025 UK government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top West Midlands area for superstore / hypermarket: Sandwell.
How this is calculatedWest Midlands ranked for superstore / hypermarket
| # | Local authority | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandwell | 59.6/100 | £135 | £28,766 | £5,832 |
| 2 | Dudley | 58.6/100 | £139 | £29,071 | £6,005 |
| 3 | Herefordshire, County of | 56.2/100 | £173 | £28,366 | £7,474 |
| 4 | Walsall | 55.3/100 | £158 | £28,691 | £6,826 |
| 5 | Wolverhampton | 55.1/100 | £153 | £32,053 | £6,610 |
| 6 | Birmingham | 53.8/100 | £159 | £33,374 | £6,869 |
| 7 | Wyre Forest | 53.7/100 | £175 | £27,346 | £7,560 |
| 8 | Cannock Chase | 53.6/100 | £172 | £29,719 | £7,430 |
| 9 | Shropshire | 53.1/100 | £181 | £28,397 | £7,819 |
| 10 | Lichfield | 53/100 | £171 | £28,845 | £7,387 |
| 11 | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 52.6/100 | £175 | £27,238 | £7,560 |
| 12 | Telford and Wrekin | 50.3/100 | £179 | £30,601 | £7,733 |
| 13 | Stoke-on-Trent | 49.9/100 | £184 | £30,767 | £7,949 |
| 14 | Coventry | 49.6/100 | £166 | £35,124 | £7,171 |
| 15 | East Staffordshire | 49/100 | £189 | £31,048 | £8,165 |
| 16 | Warwick | 48.7/100 | £185 | £33,616 | £7,992 |
| 17 | Wychavon | 48.1/100 | £197 | £32,022 | £8,510 |
| 18 | Solihull | 47.3/100 | £185 | £35,794 | £7,992 |
| 19 | Worcester | 46.3/100 | £209 | £30,003 | £9,029 |
| 20 | Stratford-on-Avon | 41.8/100 | £198 | £42,929 | £8,554 |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest area for superstore / hypermarket premises in West Midlands?
- The lowest VOA rateable value for this property type in West Midlands is £135/m²/yr in Sandwell. On the combined Gera Business Location Score, which also weighs wages and demand, Sandwell ranks #1.
- How much are business rates for superstore / hypermarket in Sandwell?
- For a 100 m² unit in Sandwell, business rates are roughly £5,832/yr at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p), on top of about £13,500/yr rent — before Small Business Rate Relief.
Opening a superstore or hypermarket in West Midlands?
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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).