The 175-hector, 600MW proposed data centre campus, is the second largest investment project at £5.6b in 2023, with Network Rail having the largest investment at £9.6b.

The proposed new site in Essex will cover 300,000 sqm and Havering Council is likely to review the application through a Local Development Order as the land is green belt. The Digital Developer Reef is proposing to build 15 Warehouse sized Data Storage Centres within a new 500-acre ecology park.  If the council agree to the LDO this will enable them to give planning permission for the full development under one application. There are still objections to the plan based on the use of a green belt, but this project could move quicker through planning if it gets the LDO.

This project is expected to see 10,000 new jobs created around the UK during the construction phase and an estimated 2,300 high-value jobs for local people, this site would become the largest data centre in Europe.

According to Barbour ABI, London could see the third largest project investment this year with the restoration and renewal of the Houses of Parliament, and Palace of Westminster, this project is expected to be worth £3.5billion but some projections are suggesting it could be as high as £18.5b and take between 26-43 years.

 

Other major construction projects on the top 100 include an estate in Stratford, near the Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre, a new development in St Johns Wood on the site of the old Barracks, the planned widening scheme of the A12, near Chelmsford, and the Transport for London development of land near Acton, where planning permission has already been granted and the development is due to start in December this year, all of these are over £3b projects.

These are all exciting construction projects and London and Essex have 6 in the top 20. The UK is expecting that an additional 225,000 construction workers will be needed between now and 2027 to facilitate these and many other projects.

If you are looking for construction workers in London and Essex, we are placing trades and labourers on sites every day and have the capacity to take on new construction clients.

Get in touch today for an initial consultation.