April 10, 2025
Data technology, Cryptocurrencies and Stock Exchanges, Finance & Economics, Digital Economy
With a particular focus on London and Manchester, Bruce Owen, Chairman of Equinix, explores the importance of technology in modern life, highlighting the opportunities for developing the UK’s digital economy.
Technology has become so integral to our modern lives that it’s easy to take it for granted. Smartphones give us easy access to the world, connect us to family and friends remotely, and provide instant access to information on every topic imaginable. Through advances in artificial intelligence, we’ve integrated intelligence into everyday devices such as our watches, refrigerators, light bulbs, cars, and vacuum cleaners. Technology helps us monitor our health, learn faster, shop smarter, work remotely, and save time and effort on everyday tasks—among many other possibilities. We truly live in a smart age. Let’s focus on the opportunities the UK offers for developing the digital economy.
London: Europe’s Cloud and Financial Hub
London is widely recognized as Europe’s leading financial, communications, and technology center. Not surprisingly, it’s also Europe’s largest data center market, attracting major global companies. Cloud service outlets for all major providers are located throughout Greater London. Digital businesses have on-demand access to flexible infrastructure, all while benefiting from one of Europe’s largest population centers.
The city also holds a pivotal place in the history of digital infrastructure. The first submarine cables were laid in the 1850s between Dover and Calais, enabling direct connections between London and Paris. This makes London one of the cradles of global communications. Many years later, London remains closely connected to Paris—and to other major cities like Amsterdam and Frankfurt—along Europe’s most important digital corridor.
For financial companies operating in Europe, expansion in London is essential. In particular, trading firms need to be as close as possible to the action, and that action takes place in London. Even a few nanoseconds of delay can mean the difference between a successful trade and a missed opportunity for these firms. They need to locate their workloads close to London’s financial exchanges so that their data traffic doesn’t have to travel long distances every time a trade is executed.
The value of London as a digital hub is clear, and we at Equinix are fully aware of this value. We operate several colocation and hyperscale data centers across Greater London to help our clients take advantage of everything this thriving market has to offer. However, it would be short-sighted to think that London is the only place to deploy in Europe. Even within the UK, emerging markets deserve the attention of any digital company looking to expand, and Manchester is a prime example.
Manchester: From Industrial Revolution to Digital Revolution
As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester has a rich history of being at the forefront of implementing world-changing ideas. Another example is the Williams tube, the world’s first random access memory (RAM) storage device, developed at the University of Manchester in the 1940s. Researchers at the university also developed the Manchester Baby, the world’s first electronic computer capable of running stored programs, as a demonstration of the Williams tube’s effectiveness.
This tradition of innovation continues today. The city is home to a thriving digital economy, valued at over £5 billion and employing over 88,000 people. 2 The UK government has prioritized investment in digital growth, and Manchester has benefited greatly from this focus. 3 Thanks to this investment—not to mention visionary leadership and a strong talent base from local universities—Greater Manchester has flourished, with over 1,600 tech startups, 4 attracting some of the world’s leading brands.
Manchester, in particular, is among Europe’s leaders in digital media and content. Manchester is home to MediaCityUK, Europe’s first and largest purpose-built digital media hub. Five major media organizations, including the BBC and ITV, are based in MediaCityUK, and a robust local ecosystem of data centers and content distribution networks has been established to support them. No European company that relies on bringing content to the public eye can ignore Manchester for a simple reason: it attracts a large number of visitors: the city is the gateway to Northwest England, a region with a population of over seven million.
Manchester and London don’t compete—at least when it comes to data centers. The proximity of each city is a huge advantage. The availability of fast, reliable connectivity between them means many companies opt for a dual deployment strategy. For example, in a post-Brexit world, data standards in the UK differ from those in the rest of Europe. Deploying in both London and Manchester can help companies provide geographic redundancy for sensitive data while meeting their data sovereignty requirements. To support these customers, we currently operate four Equinix IBX® co-hosted data centers in Manchester.
Data centers are essential—and so are the people who run them.
In 2024, the UK government announced that data centers will be classified as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), the same classification already given to water, energy, and emergency services. This is the clearest signal yet that the government recognizes the importance of data centers and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them running. This announcement will help multinational companies feel confident that deploying them in the UK is a safe bet.
If data centers are essential to the UK’s digital economy, the country cannot ignore the people who run them. You don’t have to look far for an example of how important these workers are. The UK was among the first jurisdictions to classify data center workers as essential during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the country shifted to remote work and learning, data center professionals were on hand to ensure the internet operated efficiently despite the massive surge in demand.
It is essential that we invest in the next generation of data center workers to prepare for any future challenges and opportunities the country may face. One way we at Equinix do this is through our apprenticeship program. This program helps UK students from diverse backgrounds prepare for careers in the data center sector.
This program is the first of its kind in the data center sector, and we are proud of the results we have achieved so far. We plan to expand the program to Manchester to help increase the number of experienced data center workers there. We are currently in talks with local universities to host the program and look forward to replicating our success in the South.
Renewable energy technicians enable our digital future. You can’t talk about reliable digital infrastructure without mentioning renewable energy. Data centers need power, so data center operators must invest in renewable energy production. Equinix data centers across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are 100% powered by renewable energy. We achieve this through a multi-faceted renewable energy strategy that includes power purchase agreements (PPAs). These agreements support new renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar, directly contributing to the addition of new renewable energy to the grid.
We are optimistic about the UK’s success in its renewable energy transition, particularly with regard to wind energy. The UK’s climate is among the best in the world for wind energy production, and the UK is taking full advantage of this. Although the first commercial wind farm in the UK only came online in 1991, production has grown significantly in the decades since. This is one of the reasons the UK was able to decommission its last coal-fired power plant in 2024. 9
As the UK continues to deploy new wind turbines, the number of wind turbine technicians (often referred to as “wind turbine technicians”) should increase accordingly. Wind turbine technicians perform regular inspections, lubricate moving parts, and replace worn or faulty components. They must climb turbines to perform their duties, so it’s not a job for those afraid of heights. Furthermore, maintaining offshore wind farms can keep wind turbine technicians away from home for days or even weeks. This lifestyle isn’t suitable for everyone.
The challenges of meeting the demand for wind turbine technicians are clear, as are the opportunities available to those seeking them.
Technical schools offer programs that help aspiring wind turbine technicians get a head start, and motivated candidates can find employers that offer practical training. They will also take satisfaction in knowing they are enabling the UK’s transition to renewable energy, and thus its digital future.
The growing demand for data center services in the UK is creating new job opportunities in a variety of ways. The technicians who manage data centers, and the wind technology experts who help keep them running at full capacity, are just two examples.
