Data Centers in Reading

Reading – The UK's M4 Corridor Data Hub

Reading is a premier UK data center market, ideal for enterprises requiring low-latency connectivity to London without the associated costs and footprint constraints. Its location in the heart of the M4 technology corridor provides a resilient, well-connected alternative for production workloads and disaster recovery, ensuring high-speed access to UK and European markets.

Reading: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Reading’s connectivity is one of its strongest assets, functioning as a key satellite market to London, one of the world's primary interconnection hubs.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality With 11 data centers operated by over 8 providers as of September 2025, the market offers solid carrier diversity. These facilities provide extensive, carrier-neutral environments, allowing customers to connect with a wide range of national and international networks.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps There are no direct public cloud on-ramps located within Reading itself as of September 2025. However, the region is exceptionally well-connected to London's cloud ecosystem. Businesses use dedicated fiber, wave, and Metro Ethernet services to establish private, high-speed connections to all major cloud providers.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) While Reading does not host a major public internet exchange, peering is primarily handled through private interconnects or via London's world-class exchanges, LINX and LONAP. This provides efficient and resilient traffic exchange across the UK and globally.

Bare Metal Bare metal server options are widely available from providers operating within the Reading market. Companies like Hivelocity and phoenixNAP offer dedicated server solutions that give businesses full control over their hardware for performance-intensive applications.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power Industrial power pricing in the Reading area is approximately £0.17/kWh as of September 2025. This rate, combined with a national grid mix of roughly 40-50% renewables, makes it a predictable and increasingly sustainable location for managing operational expenses.

Power Grid Reliability The power infrastructure supporting Reading's data center clusters is well-engineered and highly reliable. Facilities are typically fed by redundant power from multiple grid substations, ensuring high levels of uptime required for mission-critical operations.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts Reading is the commercial capital of the Thames Valley and a central hub of the M4 corridor, often called the UK's Silicon Valley. Data centers here provide low-latency connectivity to the dense ecosystem of technology, finance, and pharmaceutical companies in the region and in nearby London.

Regional Market Reach Strategically located west of London, Reading is an ideal site for serving the population of Southern England. It is also a prime location for disaster recovery and business continuity for firms with a primary presence in London's core data center markets.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers The United Kingdom offers a stable and predictable corporate tax environment. While no specific tax incentives exist for data center construction or operation, this consistency simplifies long-term financial planning for businesses.

Natural Disaster Risk

The United Kingdom has a Very Low overall natural disaster risk profile, with an INFORM Risk score of 2.1 out of 10 as of September 2025. This stability is a key advantage for data center operations requiring maximum uptime.

While the national assessment includes several hazards, the practical risks in Reading are minimal. The most relevant local considerations are:

• River Flood: The region has some exposure to river flooding, a risk mitigated by locating facilities outside of designated floodplains.
• Coastal Flood: This is a national-level risk and does not directly affect the inland location of Reading.
• Drought: A minor consideration with minimal impact on data center operations.

Other risks such as earthquakes and tropical cyclones are negligible.