London still dominates Britain's datacenter map, but the regions are powering up

A recent analysis of Britain's datacenter landscape reveals that the majority of the country's facilities are concentrated in London, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total. London also houses about two-thirds of the estimated colocation capacity, with a combined IT capacity of approximately 1.6 GW. Despite London's dominance, there is a notable trend of development spreading beyond the capital.

The study, compiled by UK-based specialist Karas Plating, indicates that there are 555 server farms across the UK, giving the country second place only to the United States in terms of the number of facilities.

South East England leads the region in datacenter growth, with 62 current facilities totaling 128 MW capacity and ten planned expansions. North West England follows with 39 active facilities and five upcoming builds. The East of England and Scotland each have more operational datacenters than any other region, with a combined capacity of 44 MW and 45 operational facilities, respectively.

Wales has 32 active sites, accounting for 154 MW of IT capacity, while the South West has the fewest operational server farms, with 20 sites and 54 MW of capacity.

The report also highlights the potential for future growth in regional infrastructure to support increasing demand. Notable projects include Equinix's massive campus near London's M25 orbital motorway and the proposed AI-optimized data campus in Devon, which could house 1.5 GW of compute capacity. Additionally, US investment giant Blackstone plans to build a large facility near Blyth, Northumberland, with a capacity of up to 720 MW, while OpenAI's Stargate datacenter project at Cobalt Park, North Tyneside, is currently on hold due to energy costs.