The North could be heading for a major tech boom after Blackstone’s £10bn North East data centre development was approved by Northumberland County Council yesterday, a regional tech leader has predicted.
The multi-billion-pound site near Blyth, just north of Newcastle, formerly the planned site of the failed Britishvolt battery ‘gigafactory,’ will consist of 10 buildings constructed over more than 133 acres. New developer Blackstone has said the creation of the data centres would create more than 1,600 jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction roles. In addition, it was estimated that 2,700 jobs would be created across the wider local area as a result of the development.
Scott Constable, alliance director at Manchester data centre specialist Vespertec, said: “All signs point towards a Northern data centre boom. This announcement is a huge win for the North’s data centre industry, and more computing power will vastly improve access to efficiency tools like AI and the cloud for regional businesses and institutions.”
Constable added that further education institutions in the region could expect to benefit specifically from the completed project: “Projects like this are especially good news for universities in the region,” he said. “Bristol’s Isambard-AI supercomputer is set to complete this summer, and has already allowed students and researchers to make leaps in AI research. More investment in data centres will enable institutions across the country to do the same.
“The fact that this project was unanimously approved by the Northumberland County Council is a sign that local authorities are realising the potential too. With the opportunity to create thousands of jobs, the promise of supercharging research, and the chance to unlock the power of AI for businesses across the country, I look forward to news like this becoming commonplace.”
READ MORE: Failed Britishvolt gigafactory lives again as £10bn data centre project wins planning permission
The approval for the North East comes just days after the world’s largest infrastructure services provider, Kyndryl, revealed more details about how it will create up to 1,000 AI jobs in Liverpool over the next three years.
Kyndryl’s decision to invest in the Liverpool City Region was a key part of PM Keir Starmer’s plans to “unleash” artificial intelligence across the country under the government’s AI Action Plan.
The New York listed tech firm will launch of a new technology hub in the city, led by Kyndryl Consult. This will include a Kyndryl Vital Studio, which will offer a “designer-led, open and collaborative co-creation experience” that will allow customers to tackle complex and real-world business challenges.
Also in February, the government greenlit the Manchester Digital Campus, major government office campus consisting of 900,000sq ft of office space, built on the former Central Retail Park in Ancoats.
Described as a “state-of-the-art hub” for the government’s digital operations, the campus will bring together a number of Civil Service departments, with a focus on digital skills and the aim of creating significant employment opportunities and economic benefits in the region. The campus is expected to bring as many as 7,000 digital government government jobs to the city once it is fully operational.
Pic: QTS/Northumberland County Council
