Troubled $20 Billion Data Center Shows UK’s Struggle in AI Race

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As of recently, the 196-acre plot has a metal fence and a “for sale” sign. Locals see no indication of plans for development, or indeed the promised investment and jobs. “I haven’t heard anything,” said Kat Jones, a Scottish activist who tracks local data center plans for their environmental impact. “It’s just nowhere near my radar.”

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AI Pathfinder hasn’t paid the initial £385 million investment it promised for the project, according to Mark Sugden, a spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council, the municipality that owns the proposed site. Sugden declined to comment on the status of the project and didn’t make Tony Gurney, the council’s leader, available for an interview. 

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Relentless demand for computing resources has created a booming cottage industry, turning crypto miners and entrepreneurs with limited technology experience into AI billionaires. Politicians across the globe are rushing to promote these plans as engines of economic growth, handing out perks and development incentives. 

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But many projects have tripped up on the finer points of financing or planning. Blackstone Inc.’s QTS recently pulled away from a 2,100-acre data center campus in Virginia. A major AI infrastructure initiative from the European Union is held up in delays.

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Research firm DC Byte tracked around 8,400 global data center projects as of the second quarter. About 40% of those weren’t yet running and more than a sixth had no construction underway or committed.

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Britain has struggled particularly because of its electricity prices, some of the highest in Europe. OpenAI  announced earlier this year it was halting Stargate UK, a data center campus slated for a special economic zone, citing regulation and energy costs. 

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With that context, Scotland has tried pitching its ample wind energy and uninhabited land as a natural host for data centers. In March, the Scottish government published a five-year plan to “harness the potential of AI,” and invited companies to build on publicly funded sites.

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That included companies from figures like Bellamy, an investor known more for yacht marinas than AI potential. Still, his career has shown a keen eye for spotting government spending.

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Yachts and Vaccines

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For more than two decades, Bellamy has run Salamanca Group, an investment firm that went on to finance housing developments, malls and ports. The firm spent four years upgrading the Barcelona marina OneOcean, turning it into what the firm calls “one of the largest superyacht destinations in the Mediterranean.” During the Covid pandemic, Bellamy incorporated a firm called National Vaccine Production Facility Ltd. It was dissolved in January 2022. 

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Since 2017, Salamanca Group has managed a brownfield site in Somerset, southern England, in a government enterprise zone. The site, called the Gravity Smart Campus, hosts a massive Jaguar battery plant for Tata Group. In April, the UK doled out £380 million in funds for the planned factory. (Bellamy said in a statement that Salamanca Group and Gravity Smart Campus are not related to AI Pathfinder.)

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Bellamy is also listed as a director of Wildfox Resorts, which is setting up a holiday destination in Wales and is part of a government investment program.

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Initially pitched as a £300 million project opening in 2027, the resort has faced “significant delays” due to market conditions and now has a £200 million budget, according to Tom Edington, the resort’s chief executive officer. 

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When the government turned to data centers, Bellamy joined in. In 2024, Salamanca Group said it helped “play a pivotal role” in securing a £10 billion data center planned in northern England.

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Bellamy formed AI Pathfinder in May 2025, recruiting a small team that included Google and Dell Technologies veterans. Four months later, the company introduced itself with bold plans: a £3.4 billion facility in Northamptonshire, north of London, and the far larger Scotland site.