UK datacentres strategy: Lifeline or liability? Tech leaders take a stance
IT pros reflect on the UK’s datacentre push
The UK’s ongoing push to build 100 new datacentres, despite the environmental challenges they bring, seems to be unstoppable in the face of technological progress and economic ambitions.
In the UK, these facilities have gained prominence, but have also raised concerns and public scrutiny.
In 2024, datacentres were designated as critical national infrastructure (CNI), placing them on the same level as sectors and services including water, health, and energy.
This decision aimed to make the “nation’s data safer” by allowing “better coordination between the government and industry to safeguard against cyber criminals and unexpected incidents,” Peter Kyle MP, technology secretary, told CRN at the time.
In December last year, then UK deputy prime minister Angela Rayner even overturned some local councils' rejection of planning permission, citing their vital role in the country's infrastructure and the government's development strategy.
Yet as these sites continue to expand, the question remains: what do those tech specialists sitting downstream of the hyperscalers stand to gain from the latest infrastructure push?
CRN gathered the opinions of IT leaders from Asanti, SCC, Agilitas, and BNP Paribas 3stepIT, who reflected on the fast-evolving matter.
Gary Lomas, CRO, Agilitas
CRN: Since the UK classified datacentres as CNIs last year, and with the UK deputy prime minister overturning local councils’ rejections of planning permission, what makes this push so important?
“Datacentres are now recognised as the backbone of the digital economy.
“Classifying them as CNIs acknowledges their importance to business continuity, public services and national security.
“The government views cloud and AI as central to the UK’s economic growth, and increasing domestic datacentre capacity is seen as one way of supporting resilience and reducing dependency on overseas infrastructure.”
CRN: Are new datacentres enough to support the UK’s digital ambitions?
“The answer depends less on the number of facilities and more on the type being developed.
“Traditional, energy intensive datacentres may not provide the efficiency or resilience required.
“By contrast, next generation facilities that prioritise sustainability, density and integration with global compute networks will be better placed to meet the UK’s ambitions.
“The focus should be on investing in the right kind of infrastructure rather than simply increasing volume.”
CRN: Could datacentres be built abroad to serve the UK market? Given that the US and Germany rank ahead of the UK in terms of capacity, could the country rely on offshore facilities? Or would that bring data sovereignty issues?
“Technically, datacentres abroad can serve the UK market.
“However, relying heavily on offshore facilities introduces considerations around data sovereignty, latency, and regulatory compliance.
“While overseas capacity can complement domestic infrastructure, maintaining a strong onshore footprint is important for resilience, security, and meeting local requirements.”
Daniel Cartter, Director of innovation, SCC
CRN: Since the UK classified datacentres as CNIs last year, and with the UK deputy prime minister overturning local councils’ rejections of planning permission, what makes this push so important?
“The UK government's strong push for new datacentre development is driven by a clear recognition of their importance to national security and economic growth.
“By classifying them as CNI, the government places datacentres on the same level as essential services like energy and transport, acknowledging that everything from online banking to emergency services relies on them.
“This accelerated development is also a direct response to the UK’s ambition to become a global leader in AI and digital technology.
“Building the necessary compute capacity is a fundamental step toward achieving this goal.
“To speed up the process, the government is using a ‘national-first’ approach, giving ministers the power to override local council rejections of planning permissions.
“It reflects a political will to remove traditional bottlenecks and fast-track investment in a sector seen as vital for the country's future competitiveness.”
CRN: Are 100 new datacentres enough to support the UK’s digital ambitions?
“The number of new UK datacentres is less important than their capacity to handle the high-power demands of AI.
“The government’s roadmap requires a substantial increase in this capacity, which necessitates a smart and sustainable build-out.
“Drawing lessons from Ireland's energy challenges, UK partners must prepare for potential cost increases and supply issues.
“This involves using highly efficient hardware and securing long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable energy to ensure price stability.
“To avoid supply constraints, new facilities should be built in locations with strong grid connections, and companies should invest in on-site power generation like solar or battery storage.
“Sustainability is another key pressure point.
“The industry must be transparent, reporting on metrics like power usage effectiveness (PUE) and water usage effectiveness (WUE).
“Embracing new technologies like liquid cooling and heat reuse will demonstrate a clear commitment to environmental stewardship and align with national sustainability targets.”
CRN: Could datacentres be built abroad to serve the UK market? Given that the US and Germany rank ahead of the UK in terms of capacity, could the country rely on offshore facilities? Or would that bring data sovereignty issues?
“For the UK's digital future, building a domestic datacentre network is essential, and relying on offshore facilities is a significant risk.
“Two key factors make this strategy unviable, latency and data sovereignty.
“For time-sensitive applications like financial trading and AI, datacentres must be physically close to users to minimise delays.
“More critically, storing the UK's sensitive data from government and healthcare records to financial information abroad creates major security and legal issues.
“Data sovereignty dictates that data is governed by the laws of the country where it is stored.
“Storing critical UK data in foreign facilities could expose it to the laws and agencies of other nations, which is an unacceptable risk.
“The UK's strategy of developing its own datacentre capacity is not a move toward isolationism but a vital step to ensure national security, economic resilience, and digital independence. It's the only responsible way to build a secure digital future.”
Carmen Ene, CEO, BNP Paribas 3 Step IT
CRN: Since the UK classified datacentres as CNIs last year, and with the UK deputy prime minister overturning local councils’ rejections of planning permission, what makes this push so important?
“I won’t comment on the UK government's actions, but it is worth noting that the UK government has identified datacentres as part of the nation’s CNIs due to their essential role in supporting digital services, economic activity, and national security.
“This reflects the growing importance of secure and resilient digital infrastructure in enabling technologies such as AI.
“Planning decisions at the national level generally aim to balance local considerations with the strategic need to ensure sufficient capacity for the UK’s digital economy, maintain service continuity, and strengthen the country’s global competitiveness.
“I am confident that all points of view will be carefully considered throughout this process.”
CRN: Are 100 new datacentres enough to support the UK’s digital ambitions?
“This is difficult to assess and depends on the future computing and processing needs of UK citizens, the government, and companies, including banks and R&D institutions, in relation to AI and quantum computing.
“The tech landscape, particularly with the rapid growth of AI, is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and there are many other facts that are difficult to predict and quantify at present.
“While setting ambitious targets is crucial to support the UK’s digital ambitions, these plans must also be regularly reviewed to ensure they remain aligned with future demand, technological advancements, and sustainability considerations.”
CRN: Could datacentres be built abroad to serve the UK market? Given that the US and Germany rank ahead of the UK in terms of capacity, could the country rely on offshore facilities? Or would that bring data sovereignty issues?
“While international capacity can complement domestic infrastructure, maintaining a strong country-based footprint remains critical for security, compliance, and performance for any country, including the UK.
“We are witnessing an increasing trend of data sovereignty considerations in IT software and hardware procurement decisions, particularly in relation to geopolitical competition between NATO countries and non-NATO countries.
“With the further emergence of AI, and the potential geopolitical, intellectual property, and privacy implications of AI for the UK government, companies, banks, and citizens, locating datacentres onshore may become even more desirable from a control and competitiveness perspective.”
Stewart Laing, CEO and founder, Asanti Data Centres
CRN: Since the UK classified datacentres as CNIs last year, and with the UK deputy prime minister overturning local councils’ rejections of planning permission, what makes this push so important?
“The UK has to decide what industries will power its future.
“We’ve lost much of our manufacturing base and have become what I’d call a ‘butler economy’; servicing other nations’ finances and industries rather than building our own.
“The future is digital, driven by AI, cloud and an explosion in data, then the infrastructure that underpins it must exist here.
“Datacentres are CNIs because they support everything from banking to healthcare to defence. Without them, the UK can’t compete internationally.”
CRN: Could datacentres be built abroad to serve the UK market? Given that the US and Germany rank ahead of the UK in terms of capacity, could the country rely on offshore facilities? Or would that add data sovereignty issues?
“Building offshore isn’t a realistic option for sensitive workloads.
“Strict sovereignty rules mean public sector and financial data must remain in the UK.
“The US Cloud Act has also raised major red flags.
“Our recent research found that 95 per cent of UK IT decision makers have sovereignty concerns and more than half (52 per cent) are actively planning to move away from US based cloud providers.
“That’s why so many organisations are repatriating workloads into UK colocation datacentres.
“It’s no longer just about performance or cost, it’s about trust, control, and resilience.
“The future of the UK’s digital economy depends on having sovereign infrastructure at home.”