Knight Frank has announced the appointment of Chris Jones as Partner and Head of Power Procurement and MEP Consultancy for its data centres team.

Jones has more than 36 years of experience in engineering and low-carbon consulting, joining Knight Frank from engineering design and sustainability consultancy Hydrock, where he ran the compamy’s’s data centre arm.

During his career, Jones has served as a Lead Consultant for a 230 MW three-site data centre campus at the Kennedy Wilson South West London data centre cluster, and previously advised SEGRO on the procurement of 600 MW of power around London.

In his new position, Jones will work alongside Stephen Beard, Head of Data Centres at Knight Frank, to steer the company’s wider data centre strategy, assisting clients in procuring access to power to support the operation of data centre facilities across the UK.

Beard said, “In a world where power is the key commodity within the data centre space, we are extremely lucky to have an expert in-house who can provide genuine expertise and value add to our clients.

“Chris has developed an intimate understanding of the challenges and intricacies of data centre power procurement and the MEP inputs required to deliver the AI data centres for tomorrow throughout his career, and clients will benefit immensely from his expert counsel and nuanced insight into the sector.”

Jones added, “The increasing demands of artificial intelligence and our continued reliance on IT infrastructure at every level of society is placing a greater strain on nationwide data centre infrastructure. Developers and data centre operators’ access to power is crucial for ensuring facilities have the capacity to satisfy demand. Working alongside Stephen and Knight Frank’s global network of experts, I look forward to leveraging my expertise to deliver innovative power solutions for clients.”