More than 50 blast furnaces once blazed in Coatbridge "The Iron Burgh." North Lanarkshire produced half of Scotland's coal from over 200 mines. Ravenscraig steelworks employed 7,000 workers and supported 10,000-15,000 additional jobs across the region. This area powered the first Industrial Revolution with coal, iron, and steel that built Britain's railways, ships, and iconic structures.
When those industries collapsed, they took communities with them. Ravenscraig's 1992 closure devastated North Lanarkshire. Today, 34% of the area's datazones fall within the 20% most deprived in Scotland. Industrial employment dropped from 44.3% in 1971 to just 8.8% by 2015.
But the decline wasn't about the people, it was about policy, economics, and exhausted resources. Now, DataVita’s Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone is set to invest £8.2 billion, create 3,400 jobs, and a £543m community fund. This isn't nostalgia. It's about building the critical infrastructure that will power the next industrial revolution.
Why Here, Why Now
AI is critical infrastructure for the modern economy the way coal and steel were for the industrial economy. Data centres require massive energy, generate significant heat, and demand reliable connectivity. Scotland's cool climate cuts cooling costs. The electricity grid has the lowest carbon intensity in Britain, South Scotland averages 5 lower carbon intensity than London.
North Lanarkshire sits between Glasgow and Edinburgh with fiber routes and transport infrastructure in place. The workforce understands large-scale construction and complex industrial operations. Energy was the region's strength in the 19th century. It's the strength again now, renewable, digital, and structured to flow back to the community.
What's Being Built
DataVita is building 500MW of hyperscale data centres optimized for AI workloads, partnering with CoreWeave to bring some of the world's most advanced AI infrastructure to Scotland. The facilities use near-zero water through closed-loop cooling and achieve 1.15 PUE, among the most efficient in the industry.
Over 1GW of low cost renewable energy, wind, solar, and battery storage connects directly on private wire. This eliminates transmission losses and ensures clean energy generated on-site. The system is grid positive, exporting surplus energy.
The AI Innovation Park creates a pipeline from local schools to employment in data centres, renewable energy, and AI. An AI Venture Fund backs Scottish startups with up to £500,000, plus workspace and compute access.
The £543m Community Fund
The £543 million Community AI Fund isn't charity, it's transformation capital. Calculated at £50,000 per MW of data centre capacity plus £15,000 per MW of renewable energy, it delivers over £36 million annually. An independent Partnership Board with local representation governs it with full transparency.
This enables existing North Lanarkshire businesses to scale and compete. It funds training for data centre operations, renewable energy tech, and AI skills. It supports infrastructure improvements. It backs community-led priorities. AI acts as a multiplier the way coal and steel did. Data centres need construction workers, engineers, technicians during build, then technical staff and facilities management once operational.
Jobs and Impact
The AI Growth Zone creates up to 3,400 jobs in total. The project generates £900 million in local salaries over five years and £800 million in tax revenue over ten years.
Ravenscraig at its peak supported 17,000-22,000 total jobs. The AI Growth Zone represents comparable scale but different skills technical training in electrical systems, cooling infrastructure, network management, and cybersecurity rather than physical labor in extreme conditions. Different era, different jobs, but similar opportunity for secure, well-paid employment.
On the community terms
North Lanarkshire powered the first Industrial Revolution with resources, location, and people. The AI revolution requires renewable energy, digital infrastructure, and technical expertise. The region still has the location and capability. What's been added is structure: the UK's largest community fund of its kind, independent governance, transparent decision-making.
This isn't about recapturing the past. It's about building sustainable infrastructure, creating lasting employment, and giving the community genuine control over how investment translates into local benefit.
Once again, North Lanarkshire will power the nation. But this time, it's on the community’s terms.
Learn more at https://www.datavita.co.uk/lanarkshire-ai-growth-zone and contact us to get involved.