Data Centers in Reading

Reading – The UK's Western Connectivity Hub

Executive Summary

Reading is the strategic choice for businesses requiring a UK footprint with robust connectivity but outside the immediate London risk and cost zone. Its location in the Thames Valley tech corridor provides low-latency access to a critical economic region. This makes it ideal for disaster recovery and primary production workloads serving Southern England and beyond.

Reading: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Reading sits at a key junction in the UK's network infrastructure, offering a potent alternative to London for specific latency and resiliency requirements.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality As of September 2025, the market includes 11 data centers with access to over 8 unique network providers. This carrier-neutral environment ensures competitive pricing and diverse routing options, connecting back to London's global internet hubs.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps There are no direct public cloud on-ramps within Reading itself as of September 2025. Businesses achieve secure, low-latency cloud access through dedicated private network connections (PNI or wave) to the major cloud provider PoPs in London. This architecture is standard for tier-two markets and provides reliable, high-performance hybrid cloud connectivity.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) The primary UK internet exchanges, LINX and LONAP, are based in London. Most peering in Reading is handled through private interconnects or by establishing a direct presence at these London-based exchanges. This provides access to a rich ecosystem of peers.

Bare Metal Bare metal server capacity is readily available in Reading. Providers such as phoenixNAP offer dedicated server solutions, allowing businesses to deploy high-performance compute without the overhead of virtualization.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power Industrial power pricing in the Reading area is approximately £0.17/kWh, as of September 2025. This stable and predictable pricing allows for effective management of operational budgets for power-intensive deployments.

Power Grid Reliability The power grid serving the Thames Valley, including Reading, is well-engineered and reliable. Data centers in the region typically offer redundant power feeds from multiple substations, ensuring high levels of uptime and service continuity for critical applications.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts Reading's data centers are located in the heart of the M4 Corridor, the UK's version of Silicon Valley. This provides low-latency connectivity to the UK headquarters of numerous global technology and pharmaceutical companies, facilitating rapid data exchange between corporate offices and production infrastructure.

Regional Market Reach Strategically located west of London, Reading is an excellent hub for serving Southern England, the Midlands, and Wales. Deployments here can achieve lower latency to these regions compared to facilities in East London, improving application performance for millions of end-users.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers The United Kingdom does not offer specific tax incentives or abatements for data center investment. However, the country maintains a competitive general corporate tax environment and offers R&D tax credits that can benefit technology-focused companies operating within the data centers.

Natural Disaster Risk

Reading has a very low natural disaster risk profile, with an INFORM Risk score of 2.1 out of 10, as of September 2025. The region is not prone to significant seismic or severe weather events, making it a secure location for critical infrastructure.

The primary environmental risks to consider, while still low, are:

• River Flooding: The area has a moderate risk of river flooding, a factor mitigated by specific data center site selection and facility engineering.
• Drought: A minor risk that could impact water resources for cooling systems over the long term.

Risks from earthquakes and tropical cyclones are negligible.