Tech giant Microsoft have agreed a deal worth £106.6m to purchase a 47-acre site located in Leeds to develop a hyperscale data centre. The deal was agreed with the Haworth Group to acquire the reservation sight which was formerly home to a power plant.
This comes as a huge boost for the North, YPO, our customers and communities, representing a shift in power from a predominantly southern based industry. Historically data centres have been based in the south due to a lack of telecoms providers in the north, which caused latency issues in northern regions.
The growth of telecoms in the north has enabled large scale investment such as the multi-million Microsoft data centre. With further investments expected to follow, this sees a major boost to both business and employment in Leeds and the surrounding region, as the city establishes itself as a UK tech powerhouse.
Hyperscale data centres are major sites built by companies which require large scale data processing and storage needs. Microsoft already have two existing data centres in the UK located in London and Cardiff. They offer productivity, reliability, cost efficiency with increased sustainability by favouring green friendly fuels and energy sources. YPO being a Cloud Services, Data Centre Management and Transformation Solutions procurement framework provider, are excited to work alongside existing and future data centre organisations, to further support the development of the industry in the region.
Microsoft aims to invest £2.5bn by 2026 into its data centres to support the growth of AI and to increase their global operational presence. The major investment is the largest the company has ever made in the UK. The purchase of the site follows on from the announcement that was made earlier in the year that Atlas Edge, a rival data centre provider, will also be opening a site Leeds.
The purchase of the 1,120,00 square feet land by Microsoft is expected to be completed in 2026 with the Haworth Group pledging to reinvest the proceeds into its development programme. The sight due to its strategical placement has garnered serious interest in the past, having been considered for a new Leeds United Stadium in 2001, and more recently the now cancelled HS2 rail project.
28 acres off the sight will be reserved back to its natural habitat to help improve the cities green transport infrastructure. this means up to 4bn will be invested back into the local community along with the creation of many jobs, which will see a major boost to the local economy.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “Here in West Yorkshire, we’re building the transport infrastructure, talent pipelines and thriving ecosystem we need to create jobs and growth.
“This new investment from Microsoft is a major vote of confidence in our plans, and I look forward to working with them and with Leeds City Council to build a stronger, brighter region.”
To find out how YPO can support you with your procurement of data centre management, visit our frameworks page.
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