Scaling the UK Data Centre Estate: Growth, Gaps, and Getting to Yes
Claire Keelan, UK MD at Onnec
AI is reshaping the UK’s digital landscape at speed. The government’s AI Growth Zones initiative, new investment from technology providers like Microsoft and Nvidia, and forthcoming planning reforms will further propel data centre expansion into regions such as Manchester, Wales, and Scotland. But how do operators scale responsibly, deliver consistently, and turn approvals on paper into operational capacity on the ground?
The UK has the ingredients for success – investor appetite, political will, and a proven data centre ecosystem. Yet with AI driving unprecedented demand for power, connectivity, and sustainability, scaling the national estate will depend as much on local execution as on central policy.
Reaching “yes” is no longer just about planning approval, it’s about readiness to build and readiness to scale.
Why Experience Matters Outside London
If the UK is to meet its digital ambitions, every part of the delivery chain must move in sync. By designing holistically, planning collaboratively, and partnering strategically, the UK can turn regional opportunity into national advantage.
Regional success increasingly depends on delivery partners with experience in high-density environments. Onnec has decades of experience navigating London’s planning conditions, logistical constraints, and complex sequencing requirements – expertise that translates directly to regional builds, where councils may be encountering data centres for the first time.
Continuity matters. Our teams move with clients across programmes, bringing an established understanding of standards, workflows, and operational expectations. This reduces onboarding time, avoids repeated re-design cycles, and accelerates decision-making. Long-standing relationships with consultants, contractors, and suppliers allow faster mobilisation and smoother coordination – whether operators are planning to build on greenfield and brownfield sites.
The upcoming Infrastructure and Planning Bill should streamline approvals for nationally significant projects like data centres. But challenges remain: power access, land preparation, and supply chain availability are stubborn bottlenecks that require more than permission alone to overcome.
Building Beyond the M25
Outside the M25, new developments face a different set of challenges. London remains a major data centre hub, but power constraints and high land values are pushing growth north and west, creating a more balanced national footprint while exposing regional inequalities in grid capacity, planning experience, and local infrastructure readiness
Local authorities are broadly supportive: 89% of applications across the UK’s 20 biggest cities were approved over the past five years. Yet a few rejections – such as in Sheffield, where proposals were dismissed for “poor design” or “harm to the openness of the Green Belt” – show how critical good design and local alignment are. Each site must demonstrate value through jobs, sustainability, or infrastructure benefits.
Factors like wildlife, water management, and heavy vehicle access can also complicate plans, and even well-supported projects may stall if local infrastructure cannot accommodate industrial-scale construction.
Bridging the Local Delivery Gap
Getting from planning approval to construction is often where data centre projects slow down. Grid connection delays, supply chain constraints, and regional skills shortages can stretch timelines by months or even years, creating uncertainty and increasing costs. Many regions lack specialist trades and engineering expertise needed for complex builds, and while training initiatives and local apprenticeships are expanding, they often struggle to keep pace with the surge in AI-driven demand.
Sustainability expectations add another layer of complexity. New facilities must deliver growth without compromising environmental standards, from efficient water use to reducing embodied carbon, while contributing positively to local communities and the UK’s net zero goals.
Collaboration with specialist delivery partners helps bridge these gaps. By providing flexible capacity, proven delivery frameworks, and teams familiar with both national standards and local conditions, partnerships strengthen local capability, accelerate projects, and embed skills, ensuring that ambitious data centre plans can become an operational reality.
Scaling Smarter
Data centre growth in the AI era is no longer about size alone, it’s about scalability – the ability to deliver more, faster, and with consistent standards. Achieving that at a national level requires new ways of working between clients, contractors, and technology specialists. This helps build trust and share learnings, which is key.
Prefabrication is one example of how the industry is adapting. By assembling and testing network and infrastructure components off-site, developers can reduce on-site complexity, accelerate installation, and improve safety and consistency. This approach has already proven effective in large-scale projects, where weeks saved on fit-out can translate directly into earlier commissioning and faster live operations.
Local knowledge is equally vital. As expansion moves into regions less familiar with large-scale digital infrastructure, success depends on working with partners who understand both national standards and local realities. The ability to support operators, read local conditions accurately – and anticipate challenges before they materialise – reduces risk and protects project timelines.
Getting to Yes, Faster
AI demand has made digital infrastructure a national priority, and planning reforms promise to unlock long-term growth. Yet success will rely on the industry’s ability to build smarter.
The next generation of UK data centres will be defined by how effectively they can navigate this new landscape. Collaboration, foresight, and flexibility will determine who delivers first and who delivers best.
Scaling successfully requires joined-up thinking between clients, constructors, and technology specialists – bringing design innovation, prefabrication expertise, and local delivery experience to every phase of the build. The right specialist partnerships will provide continuity, resilience, and the flexibility to evolve with AI’s demands.
About Onnec
Onnec is a leading Infrastructure Solutions and Services company for tech and enterprise, specialising in structured cabling, managed services, and network solutions. Our team of experienced designers, project managers, and engineers, supported by world-class vendor partnerships, delivers top-tier services and solutions.
Onnec’s expertise spans all data centre environments and can support customers with:
- Structured cabling design and installation
- Installation of cabling, ODFs, PDUs and containment solutions
- Network hardware installations, changes and support
- Connectivity and equipment upgrades and changes
- Smart Hands support services
