Demand for colocation in Amsterdam is currently higher than in any other city in Europe, suggests research by commercial property expert CBRE.

Colocation providers in the Dutch capital sold 22MW worth of IT space during 2014 – that’s a 97 percent increase over 2013 and the first time any European market has outperformed London since 2004.

“Amsterdam experienced a record year for colocation take-up in 2014 underpinned by a number of larger transactions. New occupiers, namely from the Technology, Media, Telecoms (TMT) sector, have been responsible for bringing the majority of new requirements to the market,” explained Mitul Patel, associate research director for EMEA Data Centre Solutions at CBRE.

Venice of the North

According to CBRE, Amsterdam was responsible for almost exactly a third of 66MW – the total demand for colocation in Europe in 2014. The take-up of colocation in the region remained similar to the levels seen in 2013.

There are indications that the growth of colocation services in Europe is slowing down. In contrast, Synergy Research Group reported in December that the same market in China is growing at around 20 percent. The same month, 451 Research estimated that the global colocation market now brings in revenues of more than $25 billion a year.

“London remains the most sustainable market in Europe with its position as a global financial hub and Frankfurt remains the Eurozone’s financial powerhouse providing high levels of connectivity and is leading the way in data protection across the EU,” said Andrew Jay, head of Data Centre Solutions for EMEA at CBRE.

“We expect this growth trend to continue in 2015 with a number of new data centres in the pipeline, including Infinity’s proposed scheme at London Stratford and Gyron’s campus at Hemel Hempstead.

“At a time of increased competition in the market the recently announced acquisition of Interxion by Telecity is a timely consolidation of two major players in the industry.”