Microsoft ends Nscale data centre deal in Essex

Microsoft has terminated its agreement for Nscale's data centre at Loughton in Essex, the Telegraph reported on Sunday, in a withdrawal the newspaper did not explain and neither company would comment on.

Why it matters: Microsoft is one of Nscale's two largest customers and a pillar of the 103 billion dollars in contracted value behind the British company's planned United States listing, so a cancelled site goes to the same delivery risk raised by delays at its Glomfjord project in Norway.

Data as of Sunday, October 18, 2026, 06:42 ET. Developing item. Single reporting chain, hence grade C: the termination is the Telegraph's reporting, carried by Reuters on October 18, 2026, read in full. The Telegraph gave no reason for the withdrawal, and Reuters said Microsoft and Nscale did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. No capacity or value for the Loughton site was reported.

Microsoft has pulled out of its data centre deal with British cloud provider Nscale, terminating its agreement for the company’s site at Loughton, Essex, according to a Telegraph report carried by Reuters on Sunday. The report gave no reason for the withdrawal, and neither Microsoft nor Nscale commented.

Nscale filed for an initial public offering in the United States last month, with Microsoft and Anthropic expected to be its major customers under its prospectus, and says its contracted value has grown from 100 million dollars to more than 103 billion dollars in two and a half years. The Loughton cancellation follows reporting this week that its Glomfjord data centre in Norway is six months behind schedule, with 6.4 megawatts of a planned 30 megawatts operational after cooling leaks and a transformer fire.

Microsoft ends Nscale data centre deal in Essex

Sources