3 Westley Street, Birmingham, B9 4ER
Colo-X analysis
The first carrier-neutral data centre in central Birmingham opened in the summer of 2016. Phase one offers the initial data hall of 1.5MW customer power, or 10,000 sq ft net, with a second similar-sized hall ready for fit-out. The site is one of the few in the UK to have an official Uptime Institute (UTI) Tier 3 design certification, so quality is assured.
Pure Data Centres Group originally developed the facility, which was then owned and operated by GPS Data Centres, led by Sandeep Sharma (ex-Virtastream). In June 2022 the facility, including freehold, became the eighth UK regional data centre to be acquired by Proximity Data Centres, who quickly became one of the leading UK regional operator with ten sites in total. Proximity were acquired by nLighten in September 2023, who now offer 35 ‘edge’ data centres across Europe.
Six Degrees were the initial wholesale tenant and they remain the largest customer. They continue to offer a full range of colocation solutions from quarter racks and half racks, to larger self-contained pods, all including network and onsite support.
Overall this is one of the most modern regional data centres in the UK.
nLighten Birmingham BHX1 facility description
The nLighten edge data centre in Birmingham data centre is only a mile to the east of Birmingham’s New Street station and the newer HS2 terminal. The data centre comprises a five-acre parcel of land bounded by Great Barr Street to the north and Glover Street to the west.
The first building on the site offered two data halls each of 10,000 sq ft, the first of which was fully fitted and operational while the second hall remains ready for fit-out (but last site visit was November 2025). This is a purpose-built facility.
The building is on a single level and offers some fairly impressive boardroom, meeting room and breakout facilities for customers. There is ample off-street parking made the site security perimeter. The longer-term plan includes a second similar-sized data centre building (3MW/20,000 sq ft breakout) making 6MW in total on the site with yet more possible up 12MW.
The area has ample networks in situ and our site survey in August 2016 found evidence of Tanet networks patching out Citywork (of six), Intial carrier networks in the building includes BT, Virgin Media and Zayo as well as managed services from Six Degrees (6DG).
About nLighten
nLighten are backed by digital infrastructure investment fund I Squared Capital, and the edge-focused operator now claims 35 sites across Europe, including 10 in the UK.
The other 25 nLighten sites are found across Europe. Most are in Germany and France, with others in Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands (which is also home to nLighten’s headquarters).
Technical stats
| Size | 10,000 sq ft of net tech initially, up to 60,000 sq ft possible |
| Total customer power | 1.5MW initially, 6MW possible |
| Percentage occupied | 10% |
| Operational since | 2016 |
| Installed clients | 5 |
| Networks available on site | 5, including BT, Lumen/COLT, Virgin and Zayo |
| Standard power | 1.5kW/sq m or 16Amps/3.5kW rack on average |
| 24/7 on-site support | Yes |
| 24/7 access | Yes |
| Pricing | POA |
We usually supply costs and information within 60 minutes during office hours.
