Every byte of data must ultimately be stored in a physical hard drive somewhere in the world. Data centres provide the physical infrastructure to do that; they are the heart of the digital sector. Data intensive companies will be more likely to base themselves near data centres to maximise the reliability of their services. Therefore, understanding where data centres are located gives a clue to where the digital infrastructure economy is likely to grow.
Information on data centres is not freely available, however. Different sources will tell you different numbers of data centres located in the UK. The total number of data centres from our source aligns with the total from multiple other sources. Where discrepancies in the number of data centres in the UK occur, it is likely due to some locations not being openly available.
In 2024 techUK published our report, ‘Foundations for the Future', which shone a light on the impact data centres make in the nations and regions, and shares lessons from data centre development in West London and Slough, Greater Manchester and Cardiff and Newport. The report noted that data centres could accounted for £633million in tax revenue for the Exchequer (at time of writing) and made recommendations on planning reform, skills, energy and sustainability.
A further techUK published report was published in August 2025, ‘Understanding data centre water usage in England'. The report provided insight from 73 data centre facilities and noted 51% of sites surveyed used waterless cooling and 64% use less than 10,000 m³ of water per year – less than a typical leisure centre.