Online businesses became incredibly popular during the country’s various Covid-19 lockdowns, and now that the retail world has reopened its doors many of these small business owners are now considering opening their own physical stores. But how affordable is it to open a brick and mortar shop in the UK?
Small Business Prices set out to explore the country’s cheapest cities to open a physical shop, based on metrics such as daily high street footfall, commercial space rental costs, and average hourly rates of contractors like plumbers and electricians.
Swindon ranked number one overall as the most affordable place to open a shop
The analysis found that Swindon is the cheapest place overall for small business owners to open a brick-and-mortar shop in.
Finding a premises to operate out of is relatively affordable compared to other towns and cities in the ranking, with the average price of renting a commercial space in Swindon being £14,120 per month.
Hiring builders, electricians, painter-decorators, and plumbers to get the shop in working order is also more affordable in Swindon than anywhere else the study analysed, with each of these professionals charging the lowest hourly rate for their services.
The table below shows the top 5 cheapest UK cities and towns to open a brick and mortar shop.
| Rank | Cities | Total high street footfall | Avg. monthly rent for commercial spaces (£) | Avg. price to buy commercial space (£) | Average hourly rate for a builder (£) | Average hourly rate for an electrician (£) | Average hourly rate for a painter decorator (£) | Average hourly rate for a plumber (£) | Average hourly rate for a handyman (£) |
| 1 | Swindon | 212 | 14,120 | 650,000 | 20 | 25 | 15 | 26 | 29 |
| 2 | Plymouth | 362 | 11,256 | 295,000 | 28 | 31 | 22 | 31 | 29 |
| 3 | Stoke-on-Trent | 239 | 6,510 | 70,000 | 24 | 28 | 21 | 34 | 20 |
| 4 | Sheffield | 206 | 9,133 | 185,000 | 30 | 27 | 19 | 34 | 23 |
| 5 | Aberdeen | 230 | 8,250 | 300,000 | 25 | 31 | 21 | 37 | 29 |
Swindon is also revealed as the best location to hire local contractors to help set-up and create your physical shop, costing an average of £115 an hour to have the support of a builder, electrician, painter, plumber and handyman.
London is the most expensive city to have the support of tradespeople, costing an average of £209 per hour, with plumbers valuing their work the most at an average of £50 an hour.
Stoke-on-Trent has the lowest commercial space rental costs, averaging £6,510 per month
Stoke-on-Trent comes out on top as the most affordable place to rent a shop, with an average monthly cost of £6,510, and Aberdeen comes in second with £8,250. Sheffield is the next most affordable option with rental costs averaging £9,133.
Manchester is the cheapest city to buy a commercial space, with the average cost being £50,000
According to the research, Manchester is the cheapest place to buy a commercial space, with the average price for a 100-1,000 square foot property being £50,000. After that, Stoke-on-Trent is the second most affordable with an average cost of £70,000, and Leicester comes third with £91,125.
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