Panattoni to enter data centre market with new hires

European logistics real estate developer Panattoni has announced plans to enter the data centre market in Europe, the UK, India, and the Middle East.

Panattoni data centre team

This strategic expansion is being spearheaded by a newly formed team of experts, including former Colt Data Centre Services executives. 
Richard Wellbrock, a seasoned data centre specialist, will lead the team as managing director. He joins Panattoni from Colt Data Centre Services (DCS), where he served as CCO. In this role, he was instrumental in developing expansive, AI-ready data centre campuses throughout Europe and Asia, significantly increasing capacity from 100MW to 1GW. 
Wellbrock is joined by Nick Parker (head of capital deployment), John Belton (head of development), and Paul Terry (infrastructure director), all of whom bring extensive experience in data centre development and investment. 
Nick Parker, formerly global senior director of asset management at Colt DCS, brings expertise in deploying over €5 billion in capital, facilitating 250MW transactions with major clients, and shaping international partnerships and investment plans across India, Japan, and Europe. 
John Belton, previously global senior director of development at Colt DCS, has approximately 40 years of experience in engineering and data centre development. He oversaw Colt DCS’s global development projects, creating a pipeline capable of delivering over 1GW of IT load internationally. 
Paul Terry, Colt DCS’s former global director of development infrastructure, directed infrastructure design and execution, managing key utility and technology projects from land acquisition to project completion.
The new London-based team will report to Panattoni's CEO, Robert Dobrzycki.
Robert Dobrzycki, CEO, said: “This is a significant new chapter for Panattoni. Data centres are essential infrastructure for the modern economy, and we are now building a world-class platform to deliver them. Richard and his team bring exceptional experience and insight”.
Richard Wellbrock, managing director, data centres, added: “Panattoni has an outstanding track record of development at scale and pace. With our team now in place, we’re looking forward to growing the business across Europe, the UK, India and the Middle East, supporting hyperscalers, cloud providers and enterprise customers with high-quality data centre solutions”.