Colt Data Centre Services has announced the appointment of Gilly Cooper as their new Vice President of Human Resources. Cooper, formerly the Head of International HR at Veritas, is now in charge of HR functions across the Colt’s global team.
At Colt Data Centre Services, Ms. Cooper will be in charge of key human resources strategy, particularly employee engagement and developing the talent pipeline, working with the hyperscale operator ‘to improve their market offering to prospective data centre employees’.
Cooper said: “This is very much in line with my passion around nurturing talent and extending the lifecycle of employees. I can’t wait to get to grips with expanding Colt DCS’ teams across Europe and Asia by seeking out the best talent in the data centre industry.”
The hyperscale data centre owner and operator has 12 locations in Europe and Asia, including London, Paris, Frankfurt and Rotterdam, Tokyo and Osaka, as well as another facility planned for Mumbai.
Colt DCS has been shifting strategies over the past two years, moving away from colocation and increasing focus on hyperscale and enterprise customers. In November 2021, Colt DCS sold 12 European colocation data centres to AtlasEdge.
At the time, Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO of Colt DCS, said: “Demand for data storage and cloud capabilities has never been higher, and so is the need for businesses to scale and find capacity. By restructuring and focusing on our hyperscale facilities, we can meet our customers’ needs on demand with true scalability and efficiency, while meeting their sustainability targets.”
The following year, the company doubled down on its hyperscale strategy by acquiring ten parcels of property to be developed into new data centre facilities.
Speaking on Cooper’s new position as Vice President of Human Resources, Sanfridsson said: “Gilly is an extremely impressive leader with an extensive understanding of the data centre business. She has a collaborative style that fits perfectly with Colt DCS’ frame of mind, and I know she will be a great asset to the business and our future.”
Prior to Veritas Technologies, Cooper was an International Senior Business Partner at AVAYA, where she developed and executed the company’s overall people strategy.
