The appetite for data centres is not slowing down. Hyperscale investments continue to pour into the UK, reinforcing the role of digital infrastructure in supporting economic growth, innovation and the expansion of AI-driven services.

Demand is growing so much that technology giants like Google are announcing billion-dollar commitments to UK data centre expansion. For policymakers, the appeal is obvious – large-scale developments can offer rapid capital investment and boost the digital economy on which businesses depend.

However, according to Emma Fryer, director of public policy for Europe at CyrusOne, the sector’s true value is still overlooked.

“Large data developments tend to inject at least a billion pounds into the economy within three or four years,” she told Capacity. “A lot of people look at data centres economically as being a sort of not-quite-as-good replacement for light or heavy manufacturing.

“And actually, we’re not. I think sometimes we forget to look at data centres as infrastructure.”

Building the future of digital infrastructure

Treating data centres as critical infrastructure in the UK has fundamentally changed how they are assessed financially, Fryer explained. When a new facility is built, the construction process prompts a diverse supply chain.

“Our supply chain is eye-watering in its complexity when we build something,” Fryer added. “You’d never imagine for a moment supplying things to a data centre.”

While the number of full-time employees operating a site may be smaller than in traditional industries, the broader network of contractors, suppliers and specialist services is significant.

For CyrusOne, this context translates into continued investment in the UK market. The company plans to break ground on a large hyperscale facility in Buckinghamshire in 2026, with another project progressing through planning in West London.

“We are putting our money where our mouth is,” Fryer says. “We’re putting in two very high-value projects into the UK.”

Beyond national economic impact, data centre developments also bring tangible benefits at the local level. Planning mechanisms such as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106 agreements require developers to contribute financially to local improvements and mitigation measures.

“If you are building a data centre in London, you accept CIL and that you are providing a big investment – that enables local councils to make strategic improvements,” Fryer explained.

Additional commitments are often negotiated through the planning process. At its proposed London development in planning, CyrusOne is funding a subsidised workspace and training centre to support small local businesses and skills development.

But Fryer believes community engagement must go far beyond formal obligations.

“To ensure we can attract and retain the right skills, we need to put a lot of effort into upskilling and awareness building,” she said, referring to CyrusOne’s proposed London development in planning.

CyrusOne also participates in the apprenticeship scheme, with Fryer explaining that the company always aims to recruit locally where it can.

She added: “The golden rule is to ensure that your host communities have a sense of agency in your project.”

Ultimately, Fryer said her experiences at CyrusOne have reinforced the importance of direct engagement and transparency with local communities.

“There’s a process that I call ‘ask, listen, act, repeat’,” she said. “Turn up and ask, turn up and listen, find out what [communities] want, make those commitments and then create an ongoing channel.”

Balancing growth with sustainability

Sustainability remains one of the most visible challenges facing the data centre industry, particularly as public debate continues to focus on water consumption and energy demand. These are two areas Fryer acknowledges require careful design and clear communication.

“All our power is sourced sustainably through guarantees of origin,” she says on CyrusOne. “At our London 6 (LON6) data centre, we’re making sure we’re on the greenfield run-off rate by the time we finish.”

She added: “Two big areas for data centre sustainability in terms of public awareness are power and water.”

On the cooling side, the company favours dry cooling systems that avoid water consumption during operations.

“In a wet-based system, water is a consumable within the cooling process,” Fryer explains. “With dry systems, the water is what we call a component, because it doesn’t leave – it just goes around and around.”

At the same time, site design can deliver broader environmental improvements. Several CyrusOne projects significantly exceed the UK’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements.

“You’re only required to do 10%, and we’re doing that on site,” Fryer says. “We’ve been able to incorporate a lot of increased biodiversity.”

Regulation will also play a growing role in shaping sustainability outcomes across Europe. As Fryer explained, the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive is expected to introduce new reporting and rating schemes for data centres, alongside minimum performance standards.

“The complexity of rating different data centres across Europe against each other is going to be very significant,” Fryer says.

Ensuring those rules remain flexible will be critical. Cooling technologies that may appear inefficient in one region can be the most sustainable option in another, depending on climate and water availability, Fryer noted.

“We want to be careful that certain technologies are not just regulated out by default,” she said. “We also have the Cloud and Data Act, in addition to integrating data centres and grids. Grid operators across Europe will be seeking significant compromises from operators.”

A supportive policy environment

Despite the regulatory challenges, Fryer sees reasons for optimism in the UK’s policy direction.

“The government’s very pro-data centres,” she says, pointing to recent updates to the National Planning Policy Framework designed to streamline development and reduce duplication in regulatory requirements.

The country has also committed to AI and data centre innovation to turbocharge its own economic growth, which – although it has attracted some controversy – has been well-received by the data centre industry.

That support is particularly important as the UK seeks to position itself as a global hub for AI and digital services.

“They’re trying to make the UK a destination of choice for AI,” Fryer says. “We are helping the government to shape that so that it delivers what it says on the tin.”

For the data centre sector, the message is clear: as digital demand accelerates, the industry’s role as foundational infrastructure is only becoming more critical.

And, as Fryer puts it, that recognition is long overdue.

Countdown to Datacloud Energy Europe – March 2026

Datacloud Energy Europe returns to Brussels on 25-26 March 2026, bringing together the people driving the future of sustainable digital infrastructure.

After a successful event last year, this year promises to unite data centre operators, grid operators, policymakers and key players in the energy sector to address pressing energy challenges that impact the data centre industry across Europe.

Having attended last year, Fryer said that Datacloud Energy Europe was some of the best networking she’d had at an event, given the calibre of attendees.

“What I like about the events is that they’re big enough for everybody to be there, which means you have a nice community of interest under one roof,” she said. “I enjoyed the panel sessions last year and learnt a lot, but I also enjoy meeting my policy counterparts.”

She added: “What stood out last year was Datacloud Energy & ESG Europe 2025 in Brussels because all my stakeholders were there and industry public policy professionals. Having that community of interest under one roof is very useful, whoever you want or need to see will be there.”

To find out more about the event and register to attend, CLICK HERE.

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