Equinix Plans to Build £61 Million Manchester Data Center

Equinix, Inc., the world's digital infrastructure company, yesterday announced plans to build a new International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in the Agecroft Commerce Park in Salford, Manchester, UK. The new IBX—called MA5—will be Equinix's fifth data center in the Greater Manchester area and is scheduled to open in Q2 2022.

MA5 has been designed for high density deployments in support of digital transformation projects across industries. It will offer state-of-the-art colocation, interconnection and edge services, including Equinix Fabric™, Equinix Internet Exchange® and Network Edge nodes, making MA5 an attractive new interconnection hub and remote geo-redundant deployment location for London.

Lorraine Wilkinson, Vice President of Sales, UK, Equinix, noted: "With a rich industrial history, Manchester has long been one of the UK's leading cities for business, catering to globally renowned companies and start-ups looking to grow and scale their operations. MA5 will provide high-speed connectivity to the North of England, facilitating the next generation of digital transformation within the region. The new site will bring Equinix's total investment in Manchester to over £130 million, and £1 billion+ in the UK's digital infrastructure as a whole."

Russell Poole, Managing Director, UK, Equinix, added: "This new investment is a significant addition to our existing portfolio in the UK. The site will cater to the growing number of enterprises—both regionally and internationally—that require ultra-low-latency connectivity to remain competitive. MA5 forms part of a wider investment in the UK's digital infrastructure, and further cements Britain's position as one of the most important markets globally to do business."

Earlier this month, Fazzaco reported that Equinix has invested a total of $103 million in the first phase to build a new IBX data center in Frankfurt, Germany​.