Study finds famed shopping destination and business hub Milton Keynes is one of hardest places to open a High Street store

The study by business credit card experts Capital on Tap ranked Milton Keynes ninth in the poll, with factors considered including handyman costs, internet expenses, parking availability, and retail store prices per square foot.

The study has found that the cost of a handyman in Milton Keynes is £29.00, six pounds higher than Sunderland, which is third in the rankings.

A monthly mobile plan costs £11.25 according to the findings, with the monthly cost for the internet £30, only 55 pence cheaper than London, which is top of the overall table.

Milton Keynes fares better in the number of parking spaces in the area, with 10,268, almost double the number of Blackpool, which is one place below MK in the overall table, in tenth.

Milton Keynes has a monthly cost per square feet to rent retail space of £1.71, just under 30 pence lower than Luton, which is second in the overall rankings.

Other findings from the study were that Nottingham was the best place in the UK to set up a bricks-and-mortar store, with an average monthly retail space cost of £1.10 per square foot.

Plymouth is the most affordable location in which to set up a bricks-and-mortar store, with the average monthly cost per square foot to rent a retail space at £0.76 per month.

Meanwhile, London ranks as the most expensive city to set up a physical shop, with a square foot of property costing £416.98 to buy outright, the most of any city.