Building today,topowertomorrow.
A 143-acre data centre campus in Bedfordshire - power secured through a grid connection and on-site generation, with around 72 acres on a single consented plot, 35 minutes from central London.
Section 35 Direction granted by the Secretary of State
Quest Park has been formally directed under Section 35(1) of the Planning Act 2008 by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government — confirming the project as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and unlocking the Development Consent Order pathway.
The UK's digital economy depends on world-class data centre infrastructure. In 2024 the Government designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure. Quest Park answers that need with scale, a planning head start, and the one thing the market lacks most: secured power.
Stewartby, Bedfordshire
35 minutes from central London. On the spine of the UK's emerging compute corridor.
Four reasons this site is different.
Power, secured two ways
A grid connection plus an on-site gas-powered prime-power and microgrid solution delivered with AVK.
Scale on a single plot
Around 72 acres on one contiguous, consented plot — clean phasing and simple infrastructure routing.
A planning head start
An existing June 2024 Class B8 consent for 1.5m sq ft sets accepted site parameters as to bulk and scale and unlocks enabling works.
National significance
Pursuing a single integrated Development Consent Order, backed by Critical National Infrastructure status.
A national-scale return.
Volterra Partners economic needs assessment, January 2025. Figures are assessment estimates.
UK data centres — the questions investors and operators ask.
How many AI data centres are in the UK?
There is no official register, but industry estimates put the UK at roughly 450–500 operational data centres, with a fast-growing share built or retrofitted for AI workloads. Capacity is concentrated around London (Slough, West London, the M25) — which is why power-secured sites within 35 minutes of central London, such as Quest Park, are in short supply.
Where are the UK's data centres located?
The vast majority sit inside the M25 — Slough, Park Royal, Docklands and the Thames Valley — with secondary clusters in Manchester, Cardiff and the North East. New hyperscale and AI campuses are moving north and east of London where 100MW+ grid connections are available; Quest Park sits in Bedfordshire, 35 minutes from central London, on the spine of the UK's emerging compute corridor.
Who is building new data centres in the UK?
Hyperscalers (AWS, Microsoft, Google, Meta), specialist developers (Ark, Kao, Yondr, Nscale, Pure DC) and infrastructure investors are all active. The binding constraint is no longer capital or planning — it is grid power. Quest Park is one of a small number of UK sites with a secured grid connection and consented land ready for development.
What makes Quest Park different from other UK data centre sites?
Three things: a secured grid connection plus on-site private generation with AVK, an existing June 2024 Class B8 consent for 1.5m sq ft sets accepted site parameters as to bulk and scale and unlocks enabling works, and 143 acres on a single contiguous plot — 35 minutes from central London and designated as Critical National Infrastructure.