by Brianna Crandall — March 21, 2016—London saw the most demand for colocation data center space across Europe in 2015, displacing Amsterdam from the top spot, according to the latest data from global real estate advisor CBRE.
In 2015, London outperformed its European counterparts with 26 megawatts (MW) of customer information technology (IT) power sold during the year. Its fourth quarter (Q4) total of 10 MW marked the highest quarterly take-up in any European market for two years.
Underpinning this trend is ongoing momentum from IT infrastructure firms as they continue to host directly from London, having served the market from Dublin. These companies are responsible for the vast majority of transactions as they continue to dominate the European landscape.
Furthermore, ongoing prospects for London remain strong. Large numbers of enterprise firms can now access cloud services, as IT infrastructure companies have started to provide on-off ramps across data centers in London.
The major markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris (“FLAP” cities) enjoyed an overall healthy year, with 62 MW of take-up during 2015.
Andrew Jay, EMEA Head of Data Centre Solutions, CBRE, commented:
We can’t get away from the impact that the IT Infrastructure firms are having on the European landscape. In simple terms, any market they turn their focus to enjoys success. Today, most substantial new requirements are led by IT infrastructure firms coming out of the U.S. West Coast. In essence, these companies, which are few in number, are single-handedly shaping the European markets.
As we move through 2016, the expectation is we’ll see a surge of activity in Q1 and Q2, again driven by infrastructure companies, given the market is now primed for large-scale deals. In addition, M&A activity is set to continue, with the largest transaction already closing in early 2016 – Equinix acquiring Telecity. Finally, concerns remain regarding data protection and privacy exacerbated by the European Court of Justice’s recent “invalid” ruling with respect to Safe Harbour. We think this will have a positive impact on demand in the smaller European markets.
