Best UK areas to open workshop / warehouse
315 local authorities ranked by the Gera Business Location Score — real commercial rent, local wages, business rates and market density.
Which UK areas are best for opening a workshop or small warehouse in 2026?
The best UK area to open a workshop or small warehouse is City of London (London), with a Gera Business Location Score of 72.1/100: premises at £38/m²/yr and local median pay of £67,064. Westminster ranks lowest at 13.2/100. Ranked across 315 local authorities from 2025 government open data; re-dated annually.
Gera Business Location Score
Top area for workshop / warehouse: City of London.
How this is calculatedTop 10 areas for workshop / warehouse
| # | Local authority | Region | GBLS | Rent (£/m²/yr) | Local pay | Rates / 100 m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City of London | London | 72.1/100 | £38 | £67,064 | £1,642 |
| 2 | Powys | Wales | 67.8/100 | £24 | £26,839 | £1,037 |
| 3 | Oadby and Wigston | East Midlands | 67.5/100 | £33 | £23,103 | £1,426 |
| 4 | Gwynedd | Wales | 67.3/100 | £27 | £25,217 | £1,166 |
| 5 | Rossendale | North West | 67/100 | £25 | £27,288 | £1,080 |
| 6 | East Lindsey | East Midlands | 66.9/100 | £26 | £26,724 | £1,123 |
| 7 | Pendle | North West | 66.6/100 | £24 | £28,099 | £1,037 |
| 8 | Boston | East Midlands | 66.6/100 | £27 | £26,187 | £1,166 |
| 9 | Pembrokeshire / Sir Benfro | Wales | 66.6/100 | £28 | £26,535 | £1,210 |
| 10 | Staffordshire Moorlands | West Midlands | 66.5/100 | £30 | £26,204 | £1,296 |
Filter by your budget
Set a premises size and monthly budget to shortlist the areas that fit.
Budget covers estimated annual rent (VOA rateable value × floor area) plus the 2026-27 small-business rates bill (43.2p multiplier), spread over 12 months. Real reliefs (e.g. Small Business Rate Relief) can reduce the rates portion further.
Best areas to open a workshop or small warehouse within £2,000/month
- 1City of LondonLondonGBLS 72.1≈ £363/mo
- 2PowysWalesGBLS 67.8≈ £229/mo
- 3Oadby and WigstonEast MidlandsGBLS 67.5≈ £315/mo
- 4GwyneddWalesGBLS 67.3≈ £258/mo
- 5RossendaleNorth WestGBLS 67≈ £239/mo
- 6East LindseyEast MidlandsGBLS 66.9≈ £248/mo
- 7PendleNorth WestGBLS 66.6≈ £229/mo
- 8BostonEast MidlandsGBLS 66.6≈ £258/mo
- 9Pembrokeshire / Sir BenfroWalesGBLS 66.6≈ £267/mo
- 10Staffordshire MoorlandsWest MidlandsGBLS 66.5≈ £286/mo
- 11TorridgeSouth WestGBLS 66.2≈ £286/mo
- 12North NorfolkEastGBLS 66.1≈ £305/mo
- 13HartlepoolNorth EastGBLS 65.9≈ £220/mo
- 14HyndburnNorth WestGBLS 65.8≈ £286/mo
- 15North East LincolnshireYorkshire and The HumberGBLS 65.8≈ £286/mo
Workshop / warehouse by region
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the cheapest place to open a workshop or small warehouse in the UK?
- By premises cost alone, the lowest VOA rateable value among the 315 ranked areas is £23/m²/yr in Hartlepool. But the Gera Business Location Score also weighs local wages and market demand: on the combined score, City of London ranks #1 at 72.1/100.
- How much is rent and business rates for workshop / warehouse premises in City of London?
- In City of London, the VOA rateable value for this property type is £38 per m² per year. For a 100 m² unit that is about £3,800/yr rent, plus roughly £1,642/yr business rates at the 2026-27 small-business multiplier (43.2p) — before any Small Business Rate Relief.
- What data is this based on?
- VOA Non-Domestic Rating Business Floorspace (rateable value per m², 31 March 2025), ONS UK Business Counts 2025 (market density), ONS ASHE 2025 (local wages) and ONS mid-2024 population — all Open Government Licence v3.0, joined on the ONS local-authority code.
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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).