Craig Messer, Managing Director of VeloxServ, said:
The Data Centre Covenant announced in Wednesday’s budget is an opportunity to ensure that the UK’s growing digital infrastructure delivers meaningful benefits for businesses, communities and the wider economy.
At VeloxServ, we welcome the focus on ensuring that datacentre development brings tangible benefits to the communities in which it takes place. As demand for AI, cloud computing and digital services continues to grow, the UK needs resilient, secure and scalable infrastructure to support its ambitions for economic growth and digital innovation.
However, the success of this approach will depend on getting the balance right. Encouraging investment in datacentres must go hand in hand with responsible energy use, environmental sustainability, meaningful engagement with local communities and the development of skills that create long-term employment opportunities.
With almost two-decades of experience in the sector, VeloxServ’s view is that datacentre facilities are much more than buildings filled with servers. They provide the foundations for the connectivity, cloud services, applications and business-critical systems that organisations increasingly depend on every day.
For the Midlands in particular, there is an opportunity to make digital infrastructure a driver of regional growth. Investment in datacentres can support skilled employment, create opportunities for local suppliers and strengthen the wider technology ecosystem. Ensuring that smaller businesses and regional technology providers can participate in this growth will be just as important as attracting major international investors.
We would also encourage a proportionate and practical approach to the covenant. Clear, consistent expectations around sustainability, energy efficiency and community benefits would provide greater certainty for operators and developers, while helping local communities understand the value that new infrastructure can bring. These requirements should recognise the differences between large-scale AI developments and smaller, established colocation facilities, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
At VeloxServ, we operate independent colocation facilities in Wolverhampton and Redditch, providing secure environments for businesses and technology partners that need dependable infrastructure close to the organisations they serve. Our experience reinforces the importance of resilience, security, operational efficiency and long-term investment in digital infrastructure.
The objective should be to create an environment in which the UK can expand its digital capabilities responsibly, without losing sight of the businesses and communities that make that growth possible. If the Data Centre Covenant can deliver that balance, it has the potential to support a stronger, more sustainable and more geographically inclusive digital economy.
If you're an MSP, hosting provider, IT reseller or network provider looking for a resilient home for customer infrastructure, speak to the VeloxServ team or book a tour of our data centres.
