The UK is on track to spend £10 billion annually on new data centres by 2029, driven by the explosive rise of artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to research by Barbour ABI.
Spending has already climbed from £1.75 billion in 2023 to a projected £2.38 billion in 2025, as global tech firms race to expand computing capacity. Barbour ABI said AI adoption is the key driver, with companies such as Microsoft, Nvidia, and Google pledging £25 billion in UK investments over the next five years.
Nearly 100 new data centre projects are now planned across the country, supported by government-backed AI Growth Zones aimed at simplifying the approval process for large-scale digital projects.
While London remains the UK’s largest data hub, new developments are spreading to regional areas, particularly the North East, where U.S. private equity firm Blackstone plans to build a $13 billion hyperscale data centre—the largest ever proposed in Britain.
Barbour ABI said the UK’s transformation into an AI infrastructure hub has been accelerated by the surge in generative AI following ChatGPT’s debut in 2022. A recent UK-U.S. technology pact, involving commitments from major American tech companies, is expected to further boost investment.
“The UK is entering a new era of data infrastructure,” the report said. “The AI revolution is no longer theoretical—it’s being built into the ground.”
