US operators pledge billions to data centres across South East
A trio of American tech giants have pledged a combined £6.3 billion towards advancing data infrastructure in the South of England at today’s International Investment Summit.
Data centres provide the computing power and data storage crucial to emerging AI technologies.
Slough in Berkshire has emerged as a hub for several US operators due to its proximity to London, with Surrey and Oxfordshire also receiving some love at the summit.
Technology secretary Peter Kyle, who earlier this year designated data centres as critical national infrastructure (CNI), hailed today’s news.
“Tech leaders from all over the world are seeing Britain as the best place to invest, with a thriving and stable market for data centres and AI development,” he said.
“Data centres power our day-to-day lives and boost innovation in growing sectors like AI.
“Today’s drumbeat of investment is a vote of confidence in Britain and our approach to work with business to deliver sustained growth for all.”
Among the investors is CloudHQ from Washington DC, which is set to build a £1.9 billion data centre campus in Didcot, Oxfordshire to complement its operations in Slough.
The new site will create 1,500 jobs during construction and 100 permanent roles once fully operational.
Hossein Fateh, founder and CEO of CloudHQ, said: “We’re very excited to deliver a hyper-scale campus in the UK that’s truly an extension of Slough due to our private diverse fibre optic route.
“Our site enables us to build out our campus environment to provide scale and density to meet our customers’ requirements.”
Californian firm ServiceNow, which has its UK HQ in Staines, Surrey, has pledged a further £1.15 billion investment in Britain over the next five years.
The software giant plans to expand its data centres with processing units from Nvidia and build new office space to grow its headcount beyond 1,000.
Bill McDermott, chair and CEO of ServiceNow, said: “Working together, ServiceNow and the UK government are on the brink of a great unlock, putting AI to work for people across the country.
“AI-powered transformation is a generational opportunity to champion citizens, empower employees and delight customers.
“ServiceNow’s investment will accelerate the UK’s innovation blueprint, redefining how people live and work.”
Dallas-based CyrusOne also operates a handful of data centres in and around Slough and has just shared plans to expand its investment in the UK to £2.5 billion.
Subject to planning permission, its upcoming projects should be operational by the fourth quarter of 2028 and are expected to create more than 1,000 jobs – both directly and within the design and construction value chain.
Eric Schwartz, president and CEO of CyrusOne, added: “The UK government’s recent CNI designation was a strong signal that data centres are of strategic importance to the UK economy.
“It’s provided CyrusOne with the confidence to continue its expansion in the UK and support the government’s policy ambition to become a centre of excellence for digital services, technology innovation and AI.”
Other sectors of interest at this week’s International Investment Summit include health tech, clean energy and the creative industries.
