A new analysis of Britain's datacenter estate has confirmed London's continued dominance of the country's digital infrastructure, even as significant new capacity begins to take shape beyond the capital.
The study counts 555 UK server farms, a figure that matches Statista's latest published data, with combined IT capacity estimated at around 1.6 gigawatts. By number of facilities, this would place the UK second only to the United States globally, although the gap between the two nations remains considerable.
The data was compiled by Karas Plating, a UK-based specialist in electroplating and surface coatings for critical electrical components and power distribution systems, a firm with a commercial interest in tracking where new datacenter construction is likely to occur as the government pursues its AI Opportunities Action Plan.
According to the analysis, London accounts for 219 active facilities, roughly 40 per cent of the national total. These sites together represent 1,048 MW of capacity, equivalent to about two-thirds of the UK's entire datacenter compute capacity. The capital also leads on future development, with 15 expansion projects currently planned.
London's dominance reflects its role as a hub for financial markets in the City, as well as its position along the M4 corridor, which runs close to fibre-optic cable routes linking the capital to transatlantic undersea cables serving North America.
However, the figures also point to a growing shift towards regional infrastructure as developers respond to power shortages and planning constraints in and around London.
South East England currently has 62 operational facilities, providing 128 MW of capacity, with ten further developments planned, the second-largest expansion pipeline in the country. These are likely to include sites near London's M25 orbital motorway, such as a large campus proposed by colocation firm Equinix at South Mimms.
Further from the capital, North West England has 39 active facilities and 52 MW of capacity, with five new builds planned, making it the region with the greatest number of upcoming projects outside London and the South East.
The East of England has 45 operational datacenters totalling 44 MW of capacity, while Scotland has 49 facilities providing 30 MW. Wales, meanwhile, has fewer sites overall, with 32 active facilities, but these represent a combined 154 MW of capacity, second only to London nationally.
The South West currently has the fewest operational server farms of any region, with 20 sites totalling 54 MW, though two new facilities are planned. One of these is likely to be the proposed Devon data campus near Great Torrington, which developers have said could eventually house 1.5 GW of AI-optimised compute capacity.
North East England has slightly more facilities than the South West, with 21 sites and a combined 17 MW of capacity. This is expected to change substantially in the coming years, with US investment firm Blackstone planning a large facility near Blyth in Northumberland, reportedly designed to support up to 720 MW of IT capacity.
OpenAI has also proposed a Stargate datacenter project at Cobalt Park in North Tyneside, though the company has put these plans on hold for the time being, citing factors including the cost of energy in the UK.
Taken together, the figures illustrate a national picture in which London remains the clear centre of UK datacenter activity, but where regional areas, particularly Wales, the North West and the North East, are increasingly the focus of large-scale planned investment. Analysts have previously noted that developers are looking beyond the capital in response to constraints on power availability and planning permissions, a trend that is likely to continue as demand for AI-related computing infrastructure grows.
The government's AI Opportunities Action Plan is expected to further influence where new capacity is built, as ministers seek to expand the UK's computing infrastructure to support artificial intelligence development. The regional distribution of future projects may therefore continue to shift as new sites, including those proposed in Northumberland and Devon, move through planning and construction.
