Why Castles and Data Centers Dot the Landscape in Wales

With incredible natural, mountainous beauty, and the unofficial title of “Castle Capital of the World” because of its more than 600 castles, Wales looks and feels like a magical land right out of a fairytale. But Wales is about more than national parks and castles.

The country has long been the beating heart of arts and culture in the U.K. It’s the home of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. It also was the birthplace of famed actor Anthony Hopkins, as well as the illustrious author of many childhood favorites, Roald Dahl.

While Wales may be a hidden jewel for tourists and a center for the arts, it’s often been overshadowed in the minds of many by other parts of the U.K., including England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, there is one industry that has taken notice of Wales and is investing heavily in Cardiff, its largest city and capital – the data center industry.

Data Center Industry in Wales

Today, Cardiff is home to one of Europe’s largest data center campuses, the CWL1 data center campus which was acquired by Vantage Data Centers in its July 2020 acquisition of Next Generation Data (NGD). The campus will feature 148MW of IT capacity once fully developed across 2 million square feet.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why Cardiff – and the country of Wales – is such a desirable data center destination.

Lightening the Load on the “L” in FLAP

The four largest and most active data center markets in Europe have traditionally been the cities or regions that data center industry insiders refer to as the FLAP markets. FLAP stands for Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris – four European cities that have lapped other secondary data center markets on the continent in both construction and saturation.

Hyperscale customers looking to service users in the U.K. capital but can’t find data center space have a solid alternative in Cardiff…That’s because latency between London and Cardiff is now around 1.2ms.

But there’s something starting to happen in some of the four FLAP markets.

Following a data center construction moratorium in Amsterdam that was announced in 2019 before being lifted in 2020, there are new rumblings that local governments may look to restrict or ban the construction of new facilities in some locations.

Similar growing pains are now hitting the London data center market, where it’s not local legislation or regulation that is slowing down data center construction, but the scarcity of suitable land. This is driving up costs.

With land hard to come by in England’s capital, data center providers are looking at additional options for real estate on which to build. Hyperscale customers looking to service users in the U.K. capital but can’t find data center space have a solid alternative in Cardiff. And large enterprises looking for data center space to power their operations anywhere in the U.K. can also benefit from leasing space in Wales. That’s because latency between London and Cardiff is now around 1.2ms.

But it’s no longer correct to assume that all hyperscalers and large enterprises that are interested in Cardiff data center space are strictly looking to service customers in London.

A Growing Digital Economy

According to the U.K. Government, the M4 region running East to West between London and Cardiff is home to the largest density of technology specialists and companies outside of Silicon Valley.

In February 2020, the London Internet Exchange (LINX) chose Vantage Data Centers’ Cardiff campus to expand its regional Internet exchange, making the area a regional Internet hub and major communications node.

Wales has become a magnet for new business opportunities. The region is at the forefront of precision engineering, leading-edge ICT and medical technology. For example, Wales is where Airbus A380 wings are manufactured, as well as Toyota Auris’ Hybrid engine, Raytheon’s Shadow R MKI Aircraft, the Raspberry Pi and Aston Martin’s DBX Crossover. Dell EMC is based in Cardiff, along with IQE which has a 55 percent global market share in compound semiconductor technology.

And the area’s economy is only expected to continue to grow and become more “high tech” as the Welsh government invests in R&D and innovation. This investment has resulted in Cardiff having one of Europe’s most comprehensive support systems for industrial research, experimental development and feasibility studies for transforming innovative ideas into new products or processes.

This dense population of technology companies and significant economic growth is enticing to hyperscalers who can help provide the cloud solutions, SaaS applications and other digital services necessary to facilitate their growth. These large enterprises driving innovation and pushing technological boundaries in the region also need data center capacity of their own to power their operations. And having data center space in Cardiff ensures that the products, capabilities and services being offered work seamlessly and as intended.

With a leading financial hub in London, and an emerging high-tech economy in Cardiff, it makes sense why hyperscalers and large enterprises would want data center space in the U.K. And Wales provides them the ability to do so at very reasonable prices, and with ample and available land.

Yet if that’s not enough to make up the minds of hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises, they should also know that Wales is an all-around great place for a data center.

Great Climate, Smart People, Affordable Power and Low-risk Environment

Ultimately, Wales is a market that is especially conducive to data center providers and their end users.

Hyperscalers and enterprise data center customers cannot tolerate downtime, which means locations that suffer from infrequent natural disasters are preferred. Wales lacks many of the environmental risk factors that data center customers would like to avoid in their digital infrastructure markets, such as proximity to a flood plain, flight path and terror threat level.

With a leading financial hub in London, and an emerging high-tech economy in Cardiff, it makes sense why hyperscalers and large enterprises would want data center space in the U.K. And Wales provides them the ability to do so at very reasonable prices, and with ample and available land.

Luckily, the U.K. remains one of Europe’s safest and secure destinations for data centers. Many of those risk factors are relatively consistent across much of the U.K., so what makes Wales stand out – besides the availability of land?

The Cardiff region allows hyperscalers and large companies to be close to London without the additional costs of being based there. Property costs and prime office rental prices in Cardiff are very competitive. In South Wales, real estate is 75 percent less expensive than in London. So, Cardiff gives data center users access to the U.K., without having to break the bank to be in London.

And that would be a problem if it meant sacrificing in other areas – such as a data center-friendly environment or a skilled, educated workforce. But Wales has those in spades.

According to Trade & Invest Wales, more than 30 percent of the Welsh population aged 21 to 64 are college graduates. Wales has 247,000 students in full and part-time education in its own eight universities. Companies in Wales can also draw on the pool of half a million graduates per year from all over the U.K. – young graduates are happy to relocate to Wales for good jobs and to benefit from the higher quality of life. Not to mention those 600 castles.

Wales also features a naturally cooler ambient climate than other parts of England, which could translate into potential savings on energy used for cooling.

Wales is a lot more than a cultural center and picturesque landscape dotted with castles. It’s also ideal for hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises looking to lock up data center capacity in the U.K. and to service an emerging high-tech economy. With a skilled workforce, favorable climate, affordable costs, low latency to London and available land, it’s a great option for companies who need digital infrastructure to house their IT assets in Europe.

Learn more about Vantage’s Cardiff data center campus featuring 100% renewable energy today. Plus, download a complimentary whitepaper from DatacenterDynamics, “Colocation Choices UK.”