JLL Hires Head of Data Centre Projects

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10 May 2021 | Updated 13 May 2021

Following the projection for data centre take-up in Europe to rise by 21 per cent in 2021, JLL has hired an industry expert to its growing EMEA data centres business.

Mark Heard will be the Head of Data Centre Projects, EMEA to lead data centre capital project and development services for clients across the region.

In this newly created role, Mark will work alongside JLL’s Data Centre advisory, transactional and facilities management teams to support data centre operators, developers and occupiers with construction and capital works in EMEA.

He brings over 35 years of construction and commissioning experience, having managed major mechanical, electrical, construction, and mission-critical projects across EMEA. Heard joins from WBS Construction, where he led the work on a 30MW (megawatts) data centre project in Europe. He was previously Director of Global Construction for Vertiv.

This follows JLL’s recent appointments of Tom Glover, Head of Data Centre Transactions, EMEA and Mike Harrington, Head of Data Centre Facilities Management. JLL’s data centres team has been expanding its reach across the region as the industry continues unprecedented growth and demand for data centre services rises.

“The well-documented acceleration of digitization, AI, and adoption of cloud technologies, and the impact of the pandemic on how people, communities, industries, and nations communicate and work, are all fuelling the need for more data centres across the globe."

–Jonathan Kinsey

Head of Data Centre Services, EMEA, JLL

Data Centre Increase Predicted

Take-up in Europe’s main data centre markets Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin increased 22 per cent compared with the same point last year, reaching 201.2 MW, with this pace of growth expected to continue for the rest of 2021. JLL forecasts 438 MW of new supply being added to these markets, a 21 per cent increase in overall market size.

Jonathan Kinsey, Head of Data Centre Services, EMEA, JLL, said: “The well-documented acceleration of digitization, AI, and adoption of cloud technologies, and the impact of the pandemic on how people, communities, industries, and nations communicate and work, are all fuelling the need for more data centres across the globe. The development pipeline is only growing, as well as the need to design and build data centres in a more sustainable way than previously done.

"Mark is a seasoned data centre construction expert who will be instrumental in delivering our unique end-to-end suite of capabilities supporting our clients throughout the data centre lifecycle. I am excited to welcome him to the team.”

Mark Heard, Head of Data Centre Projects, EMEA, JLL, added: “The rapidly growing and evolving data centres market in Europe shows no signs of abating. Data centres are mission-critical and with more demand for capacity than ever before, the need for reliable, efficient, and sustainable data centres has never been more important.

"I look forward to working with Jonathan and the wider JLL data centre team across EMEA as we look to support the industry’s growth whilst helping ensure a sustainable future.”

Picture: a picture of Mark Heard

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 10 May 2021

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