The news comes as the company says it is trying accelerate Hull’s objective of becoming one of the UK’s leading smart cities.
Commenting on the announcement Furqan Alamgir, CEO of Connexin, said: “Hull is not hanging about in its race to become a smart city. Our investment is real, it’s happening and this state of the art data centre is proof of that. Hull is advancing technologically at pace and it’s a privilege to be part of it.”
The new facility is due to open in December and will create 60 new jobs for the local residents including engineers, technicians, sales staff and even event managers who will use the site to invite schools to come and learn about how the internet works.
The new data centre called CXNDC, will also create opportunities for local businesses and technology companies. Its 200+ rack facility has designed to meet Tier III specifications and will deliver more than 40,000Mbps of internet connectivity to the area.
The facility will be built on a 1.2 acre plot at Bridgehead Business Park, for which Connexin applied for planning permission with the East Riding of Yorkshire Council. In addition, it has approached the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership’s funding programmes for support with the project costs. Once completed the site will act as the home of Connexin’s headquarters, as well as a café, a 50+ seat auditorium for presentations and screenings, and a video conferencing suite.
“Bridgehead is fast becoming the premier business location in the region and we are delighted Connexin have chosen Bridgehead to locate their new data centre and head office there. It will be a fantastic addition and facility on the Business Park,” added David Donkin, property director at Wykeland, the Hull-based real estate developer.
The data centre will offer local businesses the option of managed or colocated facilities. Most of the data centre’s capacity has already been brought by local business customers but Connexin says that more is being added and the facility is open for new business enquiries.
Connexin recently dropped out of the UK 5G spectrum auction days before it due to happen. Though no reason was cited Connexin was one of only two smaller players involved in the bidding alongside Airspan Spectrum Holdings Limited.
