Work has begun on a massive £350m data centre that Greater Manchester Metro Mayor Andy Burnham hopes will boost the area's tech and AI industries.
Kao Data's plans for Kenwood Road in Reddish secured the green light from Stockport Council back in March - with construction set to continue until 2026.
Spanning an impressive 25,900 sqm, the Kao Data facility , underpinning everything from mobile and laptop usage to advancing AI innovation.
Destined to be the North West's largest data centre, this site was strategically selected to attract tech firms to a burgeoning city, shifting the focus from London.
Project advocates tout the development as a catalyst for further data centre investments in the region, beckoning tomorrow's enterprises to Greater Manchester, reports .
Mayor Burnham said: "We've been the fastest growing digital and tech hub in Europe in recent years, but if we want that to continue we need to see the emergence of facilities like this.
"This is the first of its kind. There are other, smaller data centres in the city-region, but this is the first large scale, modern, zero carbon data centre in Greater Manchester."
He added: "It will particularly support the development of our AI cluster, we've got the largest AI cluster in the country outside London, maybe the largest overall - six percent of º£½ÇÊÓƵ AI is based here.
"We want to double in the years to come, so facilities like this and partnerships with Kao Data are going to be huge going forward. There's an opportunity right now for Greater Manchester to become the first big mover in this space in the north of England."
Spencer Lamb, chief commercial officer for Kao Data, highlighted Stockport as the perfect location for the new data centre due to its access to the necessary workforce to support the construction project.
He said it was 'not sustainable' that over the past 15 years data centres had been concentrated around the capital. "The º£½ÇÊÓƵ data centre topology has historically been in the south east around London, because the demand for these facilities is so significant the data centres have sucked dry available power around London," he explained.
"We need to distribute these data centres across the country, and for the resources and skill set around the north west and Greater Manchester, we've chosen the process of developing this site."
Mr Lamb revealed that there has already been interest from companies wanting to utilise the services at the centre, indicating a 'very healthy' pipeline and suggesting that the company is already contemplating the next data centre in the region.
Council leader Mark Hunter said: "It's a fantastic boost for the borough, there's no doubt about that. This is cutting edge stuff and we've been impressed going round and listening to what Kao has had to say about the plans for the future.
"This is only the start, this is the first development of this type outside of London and the south east, and we can see it being a forerunner of even bigger and better things in the future."
"It's a massive landmark statement, great for Stockport and great for Greater Manchester."
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