Equinix Invests £3.9B in Major UK Data Center Expansion

Equinix has announced the completion of its acquisition of an 85-acre site in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, marking the beginning of one of the largest data center investments ever made in the country. The global digital infrastructure company plans to invest £3.9 billion in developing a hyperscale campus that will deliver more than 250 megawatts of compute capacity.

This would position the Equinix site as a core component of the UK’s critical national infrastructure and a major step toward its ambition to lead in sovereign artificial intelligence.

The Hertfordshire project, previously referred to as Equinix DC01UK, is set to play a central role in enabling Britain’s digital transformation. Once fully operational, it will serve a broad spectrum of industries – including healthcare, life sciences, public services, financial institutions, manufacturing, and entertainment – providing the secure, scalable connectivity needed for AI, cloud, and data-intensive applications. For Equinix, this development represents its largest European investment to date and signals long-term confidence in the UK’s position as a global technology hub.

The economic impact is expected to be significant. KPMG estimates the construction of the Hertfordshire campus will directly generate 2,500 local jobs, with more than 200 permanent positions once the facility becomes fully operational. Most of these will be high-skilled roles supporting the technical and operational demands of large-scale data infrastructure. During the construction phase, the Equinix project could inject as much as £3 billion in annual Gross Value Added (GVA) into the UK economy, driven by employment, supply chain activity, and regional investment. Once operational, the campus is expected to contribute around £260 million in annual GVA.

Equinix also plans to integrate strong community engagement into its development strategy, including partnerships with local residents, educational institutions, and businesses to support workforce training, biodiversity restoration, and STEM education programs. The company has acquired an additional 10,000-square-metre plot adjacent to the campus for a third data center, expanding total capacity to 30MW across three phases. The first facility, LIS001, is already under development, with service expected to go live by the end of 2025. The second, LIS002, is in the master planning stage and scheduled for completion in 2028.

AI Ambitions, Data Center Sustainability

Equinix Managing Director for the UK, James Tyler, described the investment as both a technological and social commitment: “The UK is a cornerstone of the global economy and is a natural home for our most substantial investment in Europe to date. This development brings a significant amount of data center capacity to Britain, contributing to the government’s AI growth ambition. But this investment goes far beyond building the infrastructure needed to unlock the UK’s digital potential. It’s the evolution of an ongoing partnership with the local and national community.”

The UK government has welcomed the move as a major boost to its digital economy. “This £3.9 billion investment is a huge win for Britain,” said Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. “It will give businesses – from life sciences to high street banks – the ability to connect to thousands of other businesses across the world in an instant, powering our AI ambitions, boosting growth, and creating hundreds of well-paid jobs.”

Sustainability remains a cornerstone of Equinix’s plans. All of its European facilities, including those in the UK, already operate on 100% renewable energy, with a global goal to achieve full renewable coverage by 2030. The Hertfordshire campus will feature advanced dry cooling systems to minimize water use – comparable to that of conventional office buildings – and retain more than half of the site as open space. Equinix has also pledged to achieve at least a 10% biodiversity net gain by creating new ecological habitats across the property.

Industry leaders see the project as a defining example of the UK’s growing digital maturity. Luisa Cardani, Head of Data Centres at techUK, commented, “This announcement reflects the scale of opportunity the UK has to strengthen its digital foundations. Data centers are the backbone of our economy – they enable innovation, productivity, and growth across every sector. Continued investment in sustainable, resilient digital infrastructure will be critical to delivering on the UK’s ambitions for AI and long-term economic prosperity.”

The new campus builds on Equinix’s established presence in the UK, where it already operates 14 data centers serving over 1,300 local customers and 10,000 worldwide. The company employs more than 1,200 people across the country, contributing an estimated £145 million directly to UK household income. As part of its wider sustainability and innovation agenda, all Equinix sites are designed to enable future heat export, allowing excess energy from data center operations to be reused for community or industrial purposes.