While many construction companies are approaching 2026 with a degree of optimism that\u2019s tempered by a continually gloomy and uncertain economic reality, Winvic is in a more upbeat mood.<\/p>\n
Much of that is down to the firm\u2019s move to add a fourth pillar to its business strategy. Along with its industrial, civils and infrastructure, and multi-room divisions, a push into building data centres is what\u2019s exciting Danny Nelson, Winvic\u2019s managing director of industrial, distribution and logistics, who also sits on the company\u2019s board.<\/p>\n
Speaking exclusively to Construction News<\/em>, Nelson says Winvic is \u201ccurrently tendering a number of data centre opportunities\u201d. It\u2019s an area the company has been \u201ctentatively dipping a toe in the water for probably the past 18 months\u201d, he says. And now that the temperature is just right, it\u2019s time for Winvic\u2019s three core business sectors to become four.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these data centres share similar attributes to buildings we\u2019ve been specialising in for over 25 years\u201d<\/p>\n Spinning data centre construction out of its industrials business to become Winvic\u2019s fourth strategic pillar makes sense for the contractor, which is often referred to as a \u201cshed\u201d specialist. Since being founded in 2001, the company has delivered more than 10 million square metres of industrial space for clients ranging from automotive engineers, life science and pharmaceutical firms, to food and beverage makers and, of course, data centres.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these data centres share similar attributes to buildings we\u2019ve been specialising in for over 25 years,\u201d Nelson says. \u201cSo, we can bring that skill set, that understanding, that knowledge, that expertise and the supply chain.<\/p>\n \u201c[Clients] all have different requirements, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re really forging our efforts \u2013 the understanding of the MEP [mechanical, electrical and plumbing] to provide the full turnkey offering. And that\u2019s really got the interest of people who operate in the data centre market.\u201d<\/p>\n There are nearly 500 data centres in the UK, a figure that research company Barbour ABI predicts will increase by 100 within the next three years. Reasons include the growth in artificial intelligence (AI), which drives an insatiable appetite for processing power.<\/p>\n \u201cLots of our developers [have] their projects stuck in complex planning applications\u201d<\/p>\n Several of Winvic\u2019s industrial real estate clients have moved into the data centre game. Last July, Europe\u2019s biggest logistics real estate developer Panattoni announced it had plans to put data centres across the UK, India and the Middle East. In January 2025, Tritax bought a 74-acre site near Heathrow Airport with the aim of developing an initial data centre of 107 megawatts. Australian logistics real estate group Goodman launched an initiative in August to boot up data centres in a host of European cities, including Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the \u2018Tech Prosperity Deal\u2019 signed by Keir Starmer and Donald Trump in September contained investment pledges for data centre development from the likes of US real estate investment trust Prologis and private equity fund Blackstone.<\/p>\n \u201cThe demand and the requirements for a contractor of our skillset [and] our financial standing, is something that the data centre operators are looking for, and we\u2019re capitalising on it,\u201d Nelson tells CN<\/em>.<\/p>\n While Winvic is rightly excited about the predicted boom in data centre development, the other strings to its bow are also performing well, says Nelson.<\/p>\n The industrials part of the business, which is where it all started for Winvic more than 20 years ago, remains the largest contributor to the company\u2019s turnover.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can happily facilitate 25 projects on site at any time,\u201d Nelson says. \u201cOur average project value is circa \u00a330m and that generates around \u00a3750m worth of turnover per annum in the industrial sector, [and] the pipeline is looking very strong for 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Like most companies in the residential sector, Winvic\u2019s multi-room business had its challenges in 2025, thanks largely to delays caused by gateway two bottlenecks. Nonetheless, Nelson says the situation allowed Winvic\u2019s multi-room team to focus on what the Building Safety Act and gateway process means for the supply chain and how its clients can adapt.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it\u2019s probably stagnated turnover a little bit,\u201d he tells CN<\/em>, \u201cwe\u2019ve spun that into a positive and used it to our advantage to get a better understanding of how that market\u2019s going to look once these projects start popping out.\u201d<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Nelson says Winvic is starting to \u201creally gain some traction and ground\u201d in its public sector infrastructure offering. However, despite the government giving turnover a degree of surety with announcements around public spending, planning remains a \u201cmajor issue,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cLots of our developers [have] their projects stuck in complex planning applications,\u201d Nelson says. \u201c[Infrastructure work], where it interfaces with Highways England and roads with 278 works \u2013 just getting these things signed off to allow the projects to get started are complications that sit outside of the developer\u2019s control and certainly our control.\u201d<\/p>\n In its latest set of results for the year to 31 January 2025, Winvic broke through the \u00a31bn-turnover target for the first time and pre-tax profit jumped 68 per cent to \u00a332m. And Nelson points out the industrials division is heading in the right direction, given that it\u2019s \u201cprobably 20 per cent up on our same position last year\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re going to do \u00a31bn worth of turnover in 2026\/27, on 1 February 2026, ordinarily we\u2019d want over \u00a3600m secured,\u201d he says. \u201cThe trajectory at the moment would suggest we\u2019ll surpass that \u00a3600m. So that is a good indicator for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While many construction companies are approaching 2026 with a degree of optimism that\u2019s tempered by a continually gloomy and uncertain economic reality, Winvic is in a more upbeat mood. Much of that is down to the firm\u2019s move to add a fourth pillar to its business strategy. Along with its industrial, civils and infrastructure, and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155754,"featured_media":535663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[570,559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-535659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-long-reads"],"yoast_head":"\nDanny Nelson, Winvic<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Danny Nelson, Winvic<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Broad appeal<\/h3>\n