Philip (Pip) Squire, Head of Sustainability, Ark Data Centres

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Pip Squire
Head of Sustainability, Ark Data Centres

Speaker Profile

Pip Squire has successfully designed, configured and delivered the data centres for Ark since 2007 providing facilities that since their inception, have become well-known for their commitment to social responsibility. 

Pip has been central to the delivery of 13 operational data centre buildings across five separate campus locations in the UK providing in excess of 140MW of IT capacity.  A further three large data centres >100MW(IT) are in the construction phase, with a further two >100MW(IT) in the planning phase. 

As part of a large American engineering construction organisation that focusses on power, water and telecoms Pip led the European renewable energy team, with a particular focus on hydro, marine and tidal power systems from 1999 to 2008.  At the same time, he combined the company’s power and telecom specialties to provide a data centre offering that ultimately led to his life at Ark Data Centres where he started as employee #1 in 2008.

With a foundation degree in earth sciences, sustainability has been at the core of Pip’s career which has meant that all Ark data centres and campuses are built and operated with sustainability at the heart of the company.  Ark itself was the first company to deploy fresh air free cooling data centres at scale, with industry leading energy efficiency metrics in 2011, the company has procured 100% renewable energy since 2017, has rainwater harvesting facilities and on-building PV arrays where practicable and landscape management plans on its campuses looking to improve local biodiversity.

In addition to driving the sustainability agenda at Ark, Pip is also instrumental in driving ESG reporting.  Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions have been reported annually since 2014, Operational Scope 3 emissions, to comply with PPN 06/21 have been measured since 2019 and form the basis of the Ark Carbon Reduction Plan required to meet Net Zero by 2030.

2008 – 2012 Engineering and Projects Director

2012 – 2014 Design and Build Director

2014 – 2021 Head of Design, Energy and Innovation

2021 – 2024 Head of Energy and Sustainability

2024 – present Head of Sustainability