Findings from a new report into the largest firms in the sector were backed up by an industry roundtable hosted by the Association, which confirmed that more clients were turning directly to building engineering firms to help them deliver these high-value projects.

BESA stated that UK data centre development had increased dramatically over the past five years, and that the exponential expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) would further boost the market from its current £2.3 billion to £ 1.1 trillion by 2030.

The construction market research firm Barbour ABI also confirmed that data centres represented “the boom segment of 2024” with the value of planning applications almost doubling from the previous year to £2.6bn.

Along with other high-tech sectors such as pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and defence industries, data centres have managed to sustain their growth despite broader macroeconomic uncertainty, according to the latest edition of the Association’s annual Top 30 Contractors’ report.

In many such facilities, building services account for upwards of 60% of the overall project value, and therefore, the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) provider often assumes the role of lead contractor, the report added.

“The pace of growth provides significant opportunities for companies to scale up and diversify,” BESA’s technical director, Kevin Morrissey, told the roundtable in Manchester.

“However, the pace of growth is putting pressure on supply chains, and our members are facing significant resource constraints in these high-demand sectors.”

He added that industry also needed to be mindful of the impact of such rapid development on the environment and natural resources (particularly energy and water consumption), so sustainability was a crucial consideration for every project.

One primary consideration was how to utilise waste heat from data centres more efficiently in neat networks and heat pumps.