DataCentred To Offer Colocation And Cloud Services At Manchester’s Digital Content Complex

DataCentred, a provider of next-generation data centre and open-source cloud computing services, has agreed terms to occupy up to 58,000ft² of space at The Sharp Project, Manchester’s digital content production complex, in East Manchester.

The thriving digital and media businesses located at and around The Sharp Project will have access to DataCentred’s colocation and cloud capabilities. The integrated and flexible nature of DataCentred’s services supports growing businesses’ colocation and computing needs as they expand, allowing them to quickly scale up and respond to unpredictable demand, and is expected to help attract new, high growth companies to the building and the region.

Strong demand

DataCentred said the requirement for it to establish a second site in the Greater Manchester area at The Sharp Project is due to the continuing strong demand for the company’s colocation and cloud storage services, currently serviced from its first data centre, an 850 rack facility located in Michigan Park MediaCityUK, Salford.

By providing its services from both The Sharp Project and MediaCity, DataCentred says it will bridge the two biggest digital hubs outside of London, giving the company access to the substantial number of media organisations and fast growing digital business located there. The acquisition of The Sharp Project more than doubles DataCentred’s rack capacity.

DataCentred’s vision is to become an integral part of Manchester’s digital infrastructure. The cloud and colocation computing services that DataCentred will provide at The Sharp Project and MediaCity, combined with the physical network that it installs linking these hubs with the Manchester peering point, IXManchester, is expected to enhance the overall proposition that the region can offer to businesses.

The company’s expansion to The Sharp Project underpins its commitment to creating at least 270 jobs in the Greater Manchester area over the next five years which will include highly skilled and technical next generation DevOps positions as well as site engineer roles and apprenticeships.

Big Data, Video-on-Demand and compute-heavy applications are driving substantial growth in the demand for compute and storage capabilities. DataCentred wants to capitalise on these fundamental market drivers and address the colocation and computing requirements of the 80 percent of UK businesses who are currently managing their computing estates in-house.

Mike Kelly, CEO of DataCentred, said: “We are delighted to be working with The Sharp Project to provide Manchester’s iconic and pioneering creative hub with scalable colocation and open source cloud storage solutions to support its occupants’ growing businesses. DataCentred will soon span The Sharp Project and MediaCity, the two biggest digital business hubs outside of London, which will enable us to establish a much needed local internet network, supported by multiple telecoms providers, linking these key locations. Our presence at The Sharp Project brings DataCentred one step closer to implementing our strategy of increased regional connectivity, which we are leading, as companies increasingly seek regional solutions to their data centre requirements.”

Sue Woodward, OBE, founder of The Sharp Project, said: “It’s fantastic to partner up with such a leading force in the data centre sector. Not only will our tenants and other local businesses benefit from having this resource on site, but, by creating a digital bridge across to our neighbours at MediaCityUK, the region’s biggest media hubs will be linked enabling even more collaboration. Having Datacentred based at The Sharp Project will generate even more jobs and help boost the local economy.”

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