HSBC has made a formal planning application for the construction of a new £300 million data centre in York, UK.
If approved, the 325,000sqft development is expected to take two years to build and generate up to 2000 construction and fit out jobs. This is expected to generate £2 million additional income in goods and services for the local economy, says HSBC.
Part of the fit-out will entail the installation of new fibe optic cables, which the bank says will be made available to other local businesses and community projects.
When completed, the York site will be paired with another data centre in Yorkshire and will be the largest and most important HSBC data centre facility in the world, says the bank - the other pairs are in Hong Kong, Chicago and Mexico City.
The data centre would initially employ up to 100 staff, including management, engineers, IT operations personnel and support staff.
The new build will also be designed according to local environmentally accredited standards, promises the bank. Specific sustainability issues being considered include using 100% green tariff electricity, the potential use of an aquifer to provide renewable cooling and exporting waste heat to an adjacent public swimming pool.
The bank says it will build on only 25% of the 30 acre site and has produced an environmental statement on the effect of the build on ecological habitats to support its application.
HSBC says if planning consent is granted, it will make a final decision on the project in 2009.