Council data centre heads to Sharp Project as costs rise

MANCHESTER City Council has added an extra £1.2m to the cost of moving its data centre to the Sharp Project.

The council had already committed £3.6m to the move from Daisy Mill in Longsight.

It owns the Newton Heath-based Sharp Project which is a former Sharp Electronics warehouse that has been turned into a commercial centre for creative and digital firms.

It is understood to be taking 2,200 sq ft, but the centre is in talks with another tenant for the rest of the 20,000 sq ft earmarked for a data centre operator.

Last year IT group ANS pulled out of a plan to base a data centre at the Sharp Project, deciding to rent space with data centre companies such as Manchester-based M247 instead.

John Flanagan, the council’s executive member for finance, said: “This approved capital spend will be used to support the move of our data centre to a new location that has been built at The Sharp Project in east Manchester, and will provide the city council with enhanced facilities and improved resilience.”