Data centres have become one of Winvic Construction’s core specialist areas – alongside Industrial & Logistics; Multi-room; and Civils & Infrastructure. Danny Cross, Director – Head of Data Centre Delivery, explains why entering this market was a natural next step and how it builds on the company’s existing expertise.
Winvic Construction, a leading contractor specialising in the design and delivery of private and public sector construction and civil engineering projects, has announced its expansion into the data centre market.
This transition will see Winvic deliver purpose-built, resilient and scalable data centre solutions to meet growing market demand, reinforcing its commitment to innovation, operational excellence and supporting the digital economy.
As a Tier 1 partner of the UK’s most complex industrial and infrastructure developments, Winvic has built a record of disciplined delivery and the highest standards of quality. Its move into the data centre market is part of its ongoing growth and diversification, bringing its core values and expertise to a rapidly expanding market.
“Over the last 18 months we have focused on developing our supply chain, upskilling our teams and recruiting new expertise,” said Danny Cross, Director – Head of Data Centre Delivery at Winvic. “Working alongside specialist MEP partners, we’re combining civil engineering scale and management with technical precision to deliver data centres designed for uptime, resilience and scalability.
“This marks a significant milestone in Winvic’s evolution as we expand into one of the fastest-growing construction sectors whilst maintaining our commitment to quality, collaboration and excellence.”
Danny Nelson, Managing Director of Industrial, Logistics and Data Centres at Winvic, said: “Our entry into the data centre market is a natural evolution of our capabilities as these developments share similar attributes to buildings we’ve been specialising in for over 25 years. Our proven delivery of large-scale and complex industrial and logistics projects, rigorous safety and quality standards through our ‘Doing It Right’ culture and a collaborative approach, gives us a strong advantage.”
Danny Cross, Director – Head of Data Centre Delivery at Winvic, shares more of the details behind the transition.
What trends in client demand or technological advancement have been the driving force behind this initiative and why now?
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a rise in data centre demand driven by rapid cloud adoption and AI acceleration. Clients are facing increased pressure to deliver data centres closer to end-users. The market is growing rapidly and we’ve witnessed it ourselves through increasing client demand for delivery capability.
As a business with a track-record of delivering large-scale projects, we feel well positioned to succeed in this sector. Naturally, that has driven us to expand our capability within the data centre market.
What does this strategic expansion mean for Winvic and how will it shape your priorities over the next few years?
It’s quite a significant milestone. We have been exploring other market opportunities where we feel our capabilities, experience and overall offering can be applied to other sectors but data centres was our top priority.
We have established a fourth sector in the business to supplement the other three: industrial and logistics; the multi-room sector; and the civils and infrastructure sector.
In the coming years, our priority is to establish a specialist core leadership team dedicated to data centre delivery. This includes strengthening our technical teams, improving our commissioning expertise and aligning our supply chain to meet required delivery standards.
Why are data centres critical components to modern-day growth and how does this influence the expectations placed on contractors delivering them?
Data centres are critical infrastructure, so it’s essential they’re delivered on time. The high-performing infrastructure required means dependency grows and the expectation on contractors increases.
Clients expect absolute reliability, as well as cost and programme certainty and there’s very little tolerance for delays. As a contractor we need to align ourselves with the level of precision, quality assurance and technical understanding required from day one. The standard is significantly higher than in traditional construction projects and differs to the types of projects we are used to – one of the most obvious differences being MEP coordination and installation.
How have the demands of the data centre sector reshaped traditional construction practices and how is Winvic adapting to those evolving requirements?
The data centre demands a level of coordination and integration far beyond typical builders. The MEP requirements dominate the programme and commissioning becomes a major work stream. The digital QA processes are critical. There’s no room for rework or ambiguity with these facilities.
We are adapting by strengthening specialist data centre teams, embedding commissioning requirements earlier in the design phase and integrating our supply chain into this process much earlier, to ensure speed and certainty – not just on cost, but for the programme as well. It’s about transforming the traditional construction workflows at Winvic, utilising them but enhancing them to meet the high-performance technology and MEP requirements.
What practical measures will ensure your data centres achieve the uptime, resilience and scalability clients expect?
Achieving uptime and resilience begins well before construction commences. We prioritise technical assurance from the design stage and this is done through early integration with our MEP supply chain, the clients and stakeholders, maintaining robust sequencing and employing proven methods of modular construction where feasible, to minimise on-site risks.
Scalability is just as vital. We collaborate closely with clients to ensure the site and enabling works, utility strategies and overall CSA works support future expansion.
CSA works are what Winvic is renowned for. Like with any project, if you don’t get that part right, it affects everything that comes after. That’s where we add significant value through our understanding and de-risking in partnership with consultants and our supply chain.
How does entering this sector accelerate Winvic’s broader innovation and Digital Transformation strategy?
The sector is a catalyst for innovation because it requires precision, automation and advanced digital control. It also pushes us to enhance our digital twins and real-time quality assurance processes for sequencing and data-driven decision-making.
We’re exploring approaches to off-site manufacturing and standardised components, primarily through our MEP supply chain partners given where we are in our journey. This will support our wider business goals of speed of delivery, quality and safety.
Essentially, the demands of data centre delivery accelerate the adoption of new technologies across our business and that momentum benefits all the sectors we’re involved in.
How do you plan to prioritise sustainable and efficient design with minimal environmental impact, particularly as AI is on the rise?
Sustainability at Winvic is at the heart of our approach. With the increase in AI power and cooling demands, we continue to engage with clients and stakeholders to understand the challenges and opportunities around sustainable delivery. Our experience in other sectors positions us strongly in supporting improvements and adapting what we know to suit this sector.
We’re already working to understand what sustainability looks like specifically in the data centre space. From a construction perspective, we’ve been monitoring our carbon since 2012. Recently, we achieved net carbon zero certification through the Achilles Climate Impact Programme. In doing so, we reduced our carbon footprint by 71% in compliance with the Part 3 requirements, which is a significant achievement.
What sets Winvic apart in an increasingly competitive data centre construction market?
We’re unique in that we like to do things ‘the Winvic way’. We take a strategic approach to ensure we don’t run before we can walk, while also understanding the risks involved, the opportunities that exist and where we can add value.
Our clients receive senior-level engagement, clear communication and a general contractor invested in long-term success. We have the expertise and are well progressed with our supply chain. This includes existing partners who already have data centre experience and are looking to expand further into the sector, as well as engaging with specialist partners who are not currently part of our supply chain but bring specific expertise in that field. We have taken them through our full onboarding process.
The business has demonstrated its commitment to the market by establishing the sector fully and putting in place a dedicated leadership team. The support is there and this is not Winvic’s first venture into a new sector.
We understand what is required. The people involved in this expansion have experience in building new sectors within the business and we will approach this initiative in the same way.
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