The UK government has announced plans for a new artificial intelligence “growth zone” in North Lanarkshire, aiming to create one of the world’s most advanced AI sites.
The government claims the move will bring more than £8bn in private investment, alongside a new community fund worth around £543m over 15 years.
It is expected to create around 800 jobs in the AI sector, plus a further 2,600 construction roles linked to building data centres, supporting infrastructure and a renewables park. The hub will be based at DataVita’s data centre site in Airdrie, working in partnership with AI cloud firm CoreWeave.
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Permanent roles are expected to include AI researchers, coders and staff responsible for operating and maintaining data centres, while 50 apprenticeships will also form part of the plan.
The community fund will be raised through work carried out at the site as data centre capacity comes online, and will be used to support a range of projects including training packages, after-school coding clubs and support for local charities and foodbanks.
CoreWeave said Lanarkshire will become “one of the most advanced AI sites anywhere in the world” after the growth zone is completed, with a focus on “cutting-edge solutions” for challenges including energy consumption.
Energy for the development will come from on-site renewables, with excess heat redirected to power the nearby University Hospital Monklands. The hospital is set to become the first fully net zero hospital in the country when it opens its new facility in 2031.
Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill said the announcement would place the region at “the very heart of Scotland’s and Britain’s industrial story”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the development would create jobs and directly help families with the cost of living. “Getting on in life should not mean travelling miles from your community for work while struggling to pay the bills at home,” he said. “By bringing billions of pounds of investment into Lanarkshire, we are creating good, well paid jobs and funding support that directly helps families with the cost of living.”
McNeill added that the news marked the next chapter for North Lanarkshire, an area known for its coal and steel manufacturing heritage.
Danny Quinn, managing director of DataVita, said the move would “go beyond physical buildings” and that the benefits would remain local.
He said: “We’re creating innovation parks, new energy infrastructure, and attracting inward investment from some of the world’s leading technology companies. This is a massive opportunity for North Lanarkshire and Scotland, and we want to make sure local people share in it.”
Councillor Jim Logue, leader of North Lanarkshire Council, said the growth zone could be “truly transformative”. “It is an opportunity to see the continued resurgence of North Lanarkshire, which was once the centre of Scottish heavy industry, and could soon become the heart that powers the country’s future data and digital economy,” he said. “The people here have always had the same spirit and workforce ethic as before. North Lanarkshire didn’t just power the industrial revolution, this leap in technology makes us the natural home to lead the next one.”
