Facilitate in Focus

News

What we’ve reported on

Data centres have been a recurring topic for Facilitate. Firstly, the appetite is ravenous for these specialised facilities. We learnt from Cushman & Wakefield that operational data centre capacity across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) exceeded 12.1GW in the first half of 2026, up more than 36% from 8.9GW in the second quarter of 2024.

The report noted that 3.8GW of capacity is under construction, with a further 14.5GW in planning. The committed pipeline of 18.3GW is more than 34% higher year-on-year.

Despite the demand, a concern is just how fit for purpose these facilities are. 

Dave Kimberley, CEO at carbon-neutral hosting provider Krystal, warned that data centres are not being built with the UK’s changing and warming climate in mind. 

He said: “A data centre doesn’t fail on a bad month – it fails on a single extreme day. Until ‘built for extremes’ is the standard to which data centres are actually created, businesses are inheriting climate risk without even knowing they’ve taken it on.”

A key reason for data centre capacity is to handle the growing focus on artificial intelligence. However, this report reveals that just one in four FM firms is ready for AI.

As we build towards the IWFM Impact Awards night next month,, our content with the Strategic Leaders Forum is being uploaded to the Facilitate site for discussion on LinkedIn and beyond. If you’ve seen the print edition, you’ll have an idea of what to expect – and we welcome your feedback on the conversations it introduces.

What we’re working on

A big focus for Facilitate and IWFM is the IWFM Impact Awards. Of course there is the event itself to celebrate but it will also act as a catalyst to explore topical themes with the award-winning professionals shaping FM.

We’re also continuing our research into how the way buildings perform in operation can be used by town planners when assessing applications. 

If you read one Facilitate piece…

Creating inclusive spaces for all requires FMs to consider every aspect of the workplace, including emergency evacuations. 

Daniel Morgan-Williams, who is founding director, Visualise Training and Consultancy Ltd and registered blind, writes an insightful piece about how to make emergency evacuations plans suitable for every end-user’s needs.

As ever, you can find us at [email protected] or via LinkedIn for any suggestions you have for us to focus our future Facilitate activity.