techUK’s Data Centres Council strengthens its capabilities

techUK’s Data Centres Council – otherwise known as the UK Council of Data Centre Operators - has strengthened its capabilities by electing Rob Coupland, UK MD of Telecity Group, to be its Vice-Chairman. Nicola Hayes of Andrasta Consulting has also been elected to Council to provide strategic direction on communications and industry positioning.

  • Tuesday, 23rd September 2014 Posted 10 years ago in by Phil Alsop

techUK’s Data Centres Council was established in 2009 and provides a representative voice for the UK data centre community in policy matters, particularly those relating to energy. Over the last five years the Council has been responsible for delivering a number of significant outcomes for the sector, the most notable of which was negotiating a Climate Change Agreement for Data Centres. Comprising senior decision makers from across the industry, the Council is the single most influential body representing data centres in the UK.


Rob brings an exceptional breadth of expertise to the Data Centres Council at both operational and strategic levels. As a C-level executive for the UK’s largest colocation provider and a highly respected and well-known figure in the industry in his own right, he will be an important spokesman for the operator community and will complement the existing council leadership perfectly. He will work with the Council’s Chairman, Andrew Jay of CBRE.


Nicola Hayes has an unrivalled knowledge of the data centre sector and has experience advising colocation providers, government agencies, financial institutions and vendors on data centre strategy, rollout and investment. Nicola is a marketing expert and will help the council position its external publications. She will work with Council members to ensure that the contribution that the industry makes to the wider economy is correctly understood.


Emma Fryer, Associate Director of Climate Change Programmes at techUK said:  “I am absolutely delighted that Rob Coupland has agreed to be Vice Chairman of techUK’s Data Centres Council. As a founding member of the Council and UK MD of Telecity Group, he manages a highly successful UK headquartered organisation that has acted as an exemplar for the industry in terms of best practice and good energy stewardship. Rob was a driving force in the negotiations for our Climate Change Agreement for data centres, and I am very much looking forward to working with him.”


“I am also enormously grateful to Nicola Hayes for agreeing to join the Council. We have been fortunate enough to achieve some major policy outcomes over the last year and Nicola will be instrumental in helping us to understand and, most importantly, articulate their impact on the sector.”