Why the SDC M40 Campus is needed
"They [data centres] are critical to nearly all economic activity and public services, and were designated as critical national infrastructure in 2024, putting data centres on an equal footing as water, energy and emergency services systems."
- UK government, 2026
Data centres store and process digital information by housing the servers and equipment that keep online services running. They are vital to the UK economy, public services and national resilience, supporting the networks people rely on everyday, from emails and internet services to NHS records.
Demand for data centre capacity is growing quickly, particularly in the London Availability Region and Slough Availability Zone, where secure and reliable digital infrastructure is urgently needed to support businesses, public services and everyday online activity.
The government has designated data centres as ‘critical national infrastructure’ because of their crucial role in supporting the growth of the UK economy and the importance of ‘data sovereignty’ – helping to control the security and safety of our data.
A lack of necessary digital infrastructure restricts the ability of businesses to innovate. Those that rely on digital infrastructure to make future business decisions will locate elsewhere – meaning the UK loses out on investment from global players.
Slough Availability Zone
The location of data centres determines the quality of service they provide – they need to be located in clusters known as availability zones, which provide highspeed digital connections via fibre optic cables. This ensures people and businesses can access their data quickly.
The SDC M40 Campus site is located in the Slough Availability Zone (SAZ), the largest cluster of data centres in the UK. The SAZ is critical to the UK increasing its data centre capacity.
