Kao DATA has appointed Jan Daan Luycks as Managing Director of its state-of-the-art campus data centre at Kao Park on the outskirts of London, which is set to become a new destination for discovery and innovation. With over 15 years of data centre experience, Jan Daan will be responsible for driving the sales strategy and customer engagement ahead of Kao DATA’s official opening at the beginning of 2017.
Jan Daan has served in a number of senior executive positions in the data centre and managed services industry. Most recently, he spent four years as Vice President and Head of Managed Services for GTS and as CEO of CE Colo. He joined European data centre company Interxion Holding BV in 2000 where he worked for 10 years, through its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, as Director of European Accounts and Managing Director for Interxion Belgium.
Prior to this, he worked in ABN Amro and founded First Horeca Lease BV in The Netherlands. Jan Daan received a Bachelor of Arts in Law from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and a Masters in Law and Economics from the Erasmus Programme at the Erasmus University, Universitat Hamburg and Universite Paris Dauphine.
Kao Park, named after Nobel prize-winning scientist Charles Kao who discovered fibre optic cable on the site 50 years ago, is the first part of the Harlow Enterprise Zone to be delivered and is strategically located in the emerging life sciences belt of the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor. It will be the only campus near London to provide occupiers with Grade A office accommodation (215,000 sq ft) and an onsite data centre, Kao DATA.
Set to become one of the UK’s largest campus data centres, Kao DATA’s hyper-connectivity, secure data resilience and scalable flexibility will support future activity in research and development. This is likely to attract a range of sector-specific life science businesses and organisations, which will rejuvenate Harlow’s legacy as a UK centre for discovery and innovation.
David Bloom, Director, Kao DATA said: “Jan Daan brings a wealth of experience in delivering successful sales strategies for data centres across Europe and will drive customer engagement ahead of the opening of Kao DATA at the beginning of 2017. Kao DATA will provide occupiers with secure data resilience to support their businesses and future research initiatives in a campus location strategically positioned close to London in the UK’s emerging life sciences belt.”
Jan Daan Luycks, Managing Director, Kao DATA said: “Kao DATA provides a unique campus setting that few operators can offer. At present, Cloud providers demand for space and power is exploding in the UK and across Europe. Kao DATA will offer 43 MW of power along with excellent connectivity to London to cater for the next generation of data centre requirements.”
Cushman & Wakefield are advising on Kao DATA and CBRE is leasing agent on the office space. It was announced in September 2015 that defence innovation specialist Raytheon UK and electronics supplier Arrow Electronics had each taken 55,000 sq ft of space at the Kao One office building, taking Kao Park to 60 per cent let ahead of its first completion.
