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UK Data Centre Lighting Market Set to Double by 2030
Whitecroft Lighting forecasts data centre lighting market to hit £130m
Tuesday 25th August 2026
Growing and rapid investment in AI infrastructure is creating a significant new commercial lighting market, with UK data centre lighting set to more than double in value to around £130 million by 2030, according to UK commercial lighting manufacturer, Whitecroft Lighting.
This figure would represent 14 per cent of today’s UK commercial lighting market, placing data centre lighting ahead of more established sectors, such as commercial office lighting, and entertainment and leisure, both 13 per cent, and education at 11 per cent.
Data centre lighting was worth around £54 million in 2024, approximately 6% of the UK commercial lighting market, but with UK data centre development and construction set to grow from approximately £13 billion in 2024 to £32 billion by 2030, Whitecroft anticipates demand for specialist lighting across both hyperscale and enterprise facilities to rise substantially.
“The scale of investment going into data centres is creating a significant new market for UK lighting manufacturers, however, it also represents a new and very different commercial and technical environment”, explains Richard Williams, Head of Strategic Projects at Whitecroft Lighting.
“As a big manufacturer, it is impossible to ignore the value of a market forecast to reach £32 billion by 2030. To put that into perspective, that is three times more than this year’s NHS estates capital investment budget.”
However, despite the clear and sizable opportunities, analysis by Whitecroft Lighting’s Strategic Projects’ team has revealed new industry challenges for those competing to enter the supply chain.
Richard continues: “Our assessments indicate that lighting is 60% less valuable as a proportion of the overall cost of data centre construction, when compared to more traditional buildings, such as commercial office space.
“Suppliers must understand that data centre operators are grappling with huge new systemic challenges, such as access to the grid, renewable energy, and water for cooling.
“In the face of these big issues, specifiers need compelling reasons to change suppliers, particularly for more traditional aspects of M&E, and manufacturers, such as Whitecroft, need to continue to invest in bespoke innovation to create these clear reasons for change."
Richard concludes: “Whitecroft Lighting is drawing on its increasing knowledge of large-scale, critical infrastructure projects, particularly where security and resilience are key considerations. Our factory-assembled data hall lighting and ability to deliver a complete lighting solution across an entire data centre campus is proving attractive, and we are currently delivering projects in Germany and Portugal.”
