1. By all accounts, data centres are the ‘hottest asset class’ at the moment – why is there so much interest and investment in our industry?
In the past I feel like data centres have been the quiet backbone of the digital economy, operating diligently in the background to provide the resilience needed to seamlessly connect people across the world. As data becomes increasingly integral in everyday life, I believe our industry has become more well understood by the general population and is entering a much broader awareness than ever before. Coupling this with the continuing expansion of cloud and the huge potential of AI, there is a real buzz that is tangible with every conversation I have about digital infrastructure.
2. Why did you decide to join AtlasEdge?
Having started in the data centre sector back in 2011, I have been fortunate to witness the incredible evolution that our industry has experienced and how customer requirements have developed over that time. I don’t see that evolution letting up anytime soon and AtlasEdge struck me as having a unique foundation to be agile and responsive to future changes. I have also been hugely impressed by all the experienced team members that I have met so far and I’m excited to get to know the broader organisation as we look to the exciting journey ahead.
3. You’ve worked in a wide range of senior finance roles in your career – what would you say are the most important characteristics in leading a finance team?
Finance underpins so much of what makes a company successful, providing key insights for decision making and enabling opportunities for growth and expansion. It is vital that finance leadership clearly articulates how the actions of every team member directly contribute to those activities so that we feel collectively responsible and proud of the successes of the wider business. I also believe that humility plays a significant role in leadership, and I always seek to have a grounded approach to everything I do to ensure I have accurate self-reflection and hold myself and others accountable to our promises.
4. Biggest challenge and opportunity in the new role?
Customer demand is creating incredible opportunities for AtlasEdge, and I see those arising in all of the current and emerging markets that we’re serving. The associated challenge will be our ability to develop at the same speed so that we keep our commitments and deliver against all expectations. From a finance perspective, this means obtaining and maintaining a balanced portfolio of capital to fund our development pipeline and then controlling our P&L through effective procurement, management and reporting.
5. Outside of AtlasEdge, what might we find you doing?
If I’m not at home making crepes for my wife and two daughters then I can most likely be found on a mountain somewhere, either skiing down it or running up it!
About AtlasEdge
AtlasEdge designs, builds and operates highly secure, scalable data centres across 14 strategic locations in Europe. Formed as a joint venture between Liberty Global and DigitalBridge, we’re focusing on the next wave of markets including Lisbon, Vienna, Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels and multiple cities across Germany.
Our proven modular-based construction enables rapid deployments under 10MW, while we continue to develop larger campuses, with a target of more than 500MW in our powered landbank by the end of 2026.
Since 2021, AtlasEdge customers have deployed AI, cloud and mission-critical workloads in our 2N facilities, using liquid-to-chip or air-cooled designs. All new builds run on 100% renewable energy. Our tax, legal and site-selection teams also support customers entering new European regions, helping them navigate regulatory, commercial and technical requirements with confidence.