NI’s largest data centre gears up for continued growth as IT adapts

The owners of a data centre in Coleraine have said that they are optimistic for the future and have re-committed on their investment.

Private equity real estate company, Prescient Capital, have re-committed their investment in Northern Ireland’s largest data centre, renaming the facility ‘Prescient Data Centre’.

The Coleraine centre was the first business to open within Northern Ireland’s first Enterprise Zone in 2018, built next to the landing point for the Project Kelvin transatlantic fibre cable that connects Coleraine with Halifax, Nova Scotia. The £20m, 45,000 square foot facility has capability for expanding customer equipment into six planned data halls, offering significant space for growing companies as well as tailored options for organisations with smaller space requirements. These support facilities are available for all sizes of clients, highlighting Prescient Data Centre’s dedication to its diverse client base.

Following an upsurge in new business over recent months and substantial contracts agreed with three Northern Ireland-based businesses which represent 20% growth for the company in 2021, the Prescient DC team is optimistic about the post-pandemic recovery and future opportunities for the Centre.

Commenting on increasing interest in the facility Doug Friend, CEO, Prescient Data Centres, said: “We are reassured and optimistic about the prospects for the Prescient data centre in Coleraine following a massive influx of interest displayed by companies based across the Island of Ireland with diverse data storage needs. These new clients include those operating in financial services, manufacturing,

IT services and new cloud service providers, among others.”

Stephen Soraghan, Managing Director, Edge Automation Computing Services Ltd, continued: “With data, communications and edge computing playing a more important role in all of our lives than ever we strongly believe that the largest carrier-neutral data centre in Northern Ireland will be the choice for anyone with a requirement.

“As the closest data centre to North America, Prescient has the fastest connectivity for any UK data centre and also have a unique position of being a well-connected UK data centre within a very short – driveable – distance from Dublin and Cork and with easy access to the post-Brexit EU market.”

For many businesses, the past year has been a catalyst for adapting IT infrastructure to allow staff to operate remotely.

Migrating this infrastructure to a purpose-built data centre with a choice of connectivity options has helped to support these changes and lower the risk associated with hosting critical data in an unattended building, often with poor power backup and security. As more companies announce that they will not return to their brick-and-mortar premises, it is expected that large and small businesses alike will seek out the security and continuity guaranteed by Prescient DC through their emphasis on security with 24-hr CCTV surveillance, power and cooling backup for ultimate peace of mind.

Commenting on goals for the Prescient DC team for the post-pandemic recovery Doug, added: “In our drive to continue the exciting growth Prescient DC has enjoyed over recent months, our team aims to reach capacity in hall one and install renewable power with battery backup on-site. Prescient has years of experience in this sector, and we want to offer our customers locally generated green power at a discount to the grid.

“We look forward to continuing to meet the growing need for data storage in Northern Ireland as burgeoning data-heavy sectors like fintech, pharmaceutical research and cyber security continue to flourish locally and on the wider Island of Ireland. However, the past year has proven that we can also successfully tailor our highly professional and secure solutions to meet the needs of smaller scale businesses as they continue to evolve their ways of working in this post-pandemic world.”

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