Data centre company Latos has received planning approval for its new £100m development in the Tees Valley.

The data centre company will open site in 18 months’ time after securing full planning approval for its first  “neural edge” facility in Stockton and marks the start of Latos’ ambitious 40-site national rollout.

Located at Preston Farm Industrial Estate the site will comprises two data halls with a total area of 1,750 sq m and will open in early 2027.

Andy Collin, managing director of Latos Data Centres, said: “From robotics to autonomous transportation, real-time AI is set to transform how we live and work. But businesses need totally new data centre infrastructure to capitalise on these opportunities.

“We pioneered neural edge designs to meet this need. They support the most demanding workloads, are highly energy efficient and can be built faster and at lower cost than conventional data centres.”

Unlike conventional cloud computing data centres, neural edge facilities eliminate data latency by bringing powerful AI computing closer to end users. This makes possible entirely new AI use cases including augmented reality, smart manufacturing, and predictive healthcare.

Latos says the Tees Valley has a “burgeoning tech and digital ecosystem” and is the UK’s “fastest-growing region for startup growth”. It is also home to leading manufacturers and engineering companies, as well as the government’s manufacturing innovation accelerator, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI). As a result, Latos anticipates considerable local demand for its facility.

The Stockton facility marks the beginning of Latos’ ambitious national expansion, with 40 neural edge sites planned across Britain by 2030. The network will create a distributed AI processing capability that ensures no location is more than 50 miles from ultra-low latency artificial intelligence services.

Future sites are planned for major urban centres including Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow, creating a comprehensive neural edge network that positions Britain as the global leader in sovereign AI infrastructure.

Collin added: “Our nationwide neural edge network is a fundamental shift from centralised ‘cloud computing’ models. It will help ensure British companies can thrive using AI, rather than being constrained by yesterday’s technology.”