Fujitsu IT Services has opened a £44 million secure data centre which it asserts is the first of its kind in Europe.

The company states that the centre has proven environmental and sustainability credentials, including evaporation towers that remove heat from the data centre systems and variable fans and pumps that save energy in the cooling system.

Based within 35 miles of London, it will be able to serve the needs of public and private organisations across the UK and Europe.

Through new proven technology, Fujitsu’s London North data centre achieves both the optimum resilience level and a leading efficiency rating," commented Martin Provoost, Fujitsu Services head of data centres.

It is asserted that the centre's IT optimisation programmes will save enough electricity to power up to 6,000 home and also significantly reduce the cost of IT for business.

In May, it was reported that Fujitisu's £896 million contract with the NHS to upgrade IT systems in the south east was cancelled following a failure to accept the terms of the contract.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)