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The quarterly CB Richard Ellis report on data centres said London continues to dominate the international market, with take-up of 157,000 sq ft in the last three months of 2005, up 171% on the previous quarter.

This represents 78.5% of total market take-up in the period across five European hubs, also including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid and Paris.

On the basis of these figures, CBRE predicted that areas in and around London would need more data centres built to meet growing demand.

The report added that it expects to see "specialist investors move to satisfy some current requirements in this short-supplied market" in the first half of 2006.

n Data from the Savills Commercial PMI survey shows 27% of those who responded reported a rise in commercial development at the start of this year compared to 6% who saw a fall. Seven of the nine areas monitored reported growing activity, with the sharpest growth seen in private sector office activity.