About 5DM

Alex is an Environmental Manager at 5DM Group, supporting the environmental due diligence and development of data centre projects across the UK and Europe. He enjoys assessing what makes a site viable, understanding environmental risks and opportunities, and helping project teams navigate permitting and development challenges from an early stage.

Alex plays semi-professional football for Beaconsfield Town FC, although whether Monday morning site assessments are easier after a loss is probably best left unasked!

Andy is an Information Management/Document Controller and Risk Manager at 5DM Group. From a Banking and Finance background with 35+ years of experience he spent the last 16 years in Risk Management.

Andy is an excellent communicator with strong stakeholder management, verbal, and written skills and thrives on building sound working relationships within the professional working environment at all levels.

When not at work, Andy will often meet up with family and friends who have a shared passion (and season tickets) for a well know London Football Club to watch and cheer on his team. Andy can also sometimes be spotted at the clay pigeon shooting ground attempting to hit more clays than he misses!

Arno is a Design Manager at 5DM. Having worked his way up through Construction to Design Management for Data Centres over the last decade, he has gained a great insight into Design detail and requirements. Striving for a detailed, well coordinated, on-time and a fully collaborative design, are core values to his approach for design delivery.

Arno enjoys the finer things in life, like family, braai’s (BBQ), rugby and sweets

Ben is Director and co-founder of 5DM Group. Passionate about people and process. He enjoys unlocking potential in projects from some of the world’s largest Data Centre developments to developing 5DM.

Ben used to race Cornish Pilot Gigs (rowing boats) – he even rowed for 7 hours offshore around a lighthouse…just don’t ask about the blisters!

Bio.

Chris is a Senior Civil Engineer at 5DM Group, with a passion for technical design and the delivery of complex engineering solutions. He has acted as Civil Design Lead on numerous data centre projects across Europe, bringing strong technical expertise and a practical, delivery-focused approach to each project.

Through his experience in the industry, Chris has developed a deep understanding of the time and cost sensitivities associated with critical infrastructure projects. He strives to ensure that designs are technically robust, coordinated to a high standard, and delivered to the quality and demanding timeframes expected within the data centre industry.

Outside of engineering, Chris is a keen tag rugby player and has represented South Dublin at the Irish Nationals. He is also an avid live music fan, having attended more than 200 major gigs, and counting.

David is a Civil Engineering Technician with over 18 years of experience across the UK, UAE and India, specialising in civil engineering design, technical drawings and 3D modelling.

His experience spans Data Centres, Roads & Highways and infrastructure projects, with a strong focus on developing detailed civil engineering packages using Autodesk Civil 3D. He enjoys taking projects from initial concepts through to detailed design, combining technical accuracy and industry standards.

Outside of work, David has a passion for Painting and hand sketching with any medium, which provides a creative escape from the everyday world :). He also enjoys watching films and reading books especially Dan Brown & Dostoevsky.

Bio.

Ian is a CDE Manager specialising in mission-critical data centre projects. Experienced in leading CDE strategy, governance and ISO 19650-aligned information management across complex, fast-paced programmes. Skilled at connecting people, process and technology to improve information quality, collaboration and digital delivery from design through construction, commissioning and handover.

In his spare time Ian is a keen climber and has been breeding tortoises for over 20 years.

Jonny is a Technical Director at 5DM Group, with a passion for building and leading teams to deliver complex, large-scale infrastructure projects. With a background in civil engineering and experience across the European data centre sector, he combines technical knowledge with a practical, collaborative approach to unlocking challenging sites and guiding projects from early due diligence and feasibility through to construction and handover.

His approach centres on identifying constraints early, bringing the right expertise together and turning technical challenges into clear, deliverable solutions. Working closely with clients, designers and contractors, Jonny leads multidisciplinary teams through the complexities of infrastructure delivery, ensuring that design decisions balance technical requirements with commercial objectives, programme commitments and buildability. He is committed to challenging established ways of working where there is an opportunity to improve coordination, reduce risk and deliver better outcomes.

Jonny once cycled from Cairns to Brisbane, avoiding crocodiles and the heat – raising money and awareness for Men’s Mental Health. 997 miles later he has refused to ever get on a bike again.

Josh is a Chartered Building Surveyor (MRICS) and Senior Design Manager with extensive experience delivering and managing complex construction and refurbishment projects across the residential, commercial, education and blue-light sectors. With a strong technical background in building surveying, project delivery, building pathology and design coordination, Josh has progressed from hands-on construction and surveying roles into senior positions overseeing multidisciplinary teams and major projects. In his role as Senior Design Manager at 5DM Group, he is responsible for coordinating and managing design teams on large-scale data centre projects. He ensures design development, technical coordination, programme requirements and stakeholder objectives are effectively managed through the project lifecycle.

Josh likes rugby, darts and going to the pub.

Keith has over 40 years of contractor background and specialises in delivering streamlined, high-performance systems on complex projects. As a Risk, Workflow, and CDE Lead, Keith’s management style is planned, objective, hands-on, and relentlessly focused on outcomes. Keith champions simplified, intuitive workflows that reduce risk, drive cost efficiency, bake in feedback and encourage team engagement, always favouring his “boots-on-the-ground” perspective to keep things simple.

Keith balances rigorous risk management with simplicity by focusing on high-impact, collaborative interventions rather than administrative volume. Keith deploys three key strategies of tiered responsibility, automation and integration to ensure the risk management supports day-to-day operations and fosters a “no surprises” culture of transparency and clear ownership.

When Keith is not managing project risk, you’ll find him canoeing, bouldering, mountain biking, or bivvying under the stars. He’s just as comfortable taking on the elements as tackling a hyperscale project!

Bio.

Michael is a Civil Engineer specialising in data centre developments, with responsibility for leading and coordinating civil engineering design from early-stage site feasibility through to detailed design and construction support. Michael’s role covers earthworks, drainage, underground utilities, external works, site access and infrastructure, while coordinating closely with structural, MEP, architectural, and security disciplines. Michael also manages and provides technical direction to technicians, reviews design outputs, identifies and mitigates project risks, and works directly with clients to advise on buildability, technical solutions and value engineering.

In Michael’s spare time he enjoys travelling and exploring new places, listen to music and supporting his local rugby league team.

Patrick is a Design Manager at 5DM, with 8+ years’ experience delivering complex industrial and highly serviced developments, spanning temperature-controlled storage facilities and data centre projects across Australasia and Europe, including projects of national significance. He focuses on driving collaboration, accountability and clear decision-making throughout the design and pre-construction phases.

Outside of work, Patrick is also the three-time reigning Cambridge Beer Mile Champion – arguably his most fiercely defended title.

Having led engineering teams and projects at the highest levels, Richard’s work is focused on helping clients, developers, investors and design teams make clear, informed decisions at the earliest stages of a project.  He brings a practical understanding of project design, delivery risk, buildability and commercial drivers, particularly in fast-moving, mission-critical environments where early technical input can materially influence schedule, cost and long-term asset value.

In his spare time, Rich enjoys languages and travel, skiing, supporting Cambridge Rugby, and walking his Spaniel, Watson.

Steve is the founder of 5DM Group and a recognised leader in data centre development, bringing clarity, pace and decisive leadership to complex projects. He challenges conventional thinking, builds high-performing teams and brings together the commercial, technical and development disciplines needed to turn ambitious opportunities into reality. His focus is simple: cut through complexity, make the decisions that matter and create a clear route to an investable, buildable data centre.

Steve loves travel, live music, family time and hanging out with his grandchildren.

Zoltan is a Chartered Electrical Engineer with the highest level of certification (CDCE) of Data Center and 15+ years’ experience, mostly in the Mission Critical/Data Centers sector.
He specializes in the Mission Critical sector and worked for years as a consulting engineer managing the multidisciplinary design of construction projects and as a technical leader and supervisor for the construction phase.
Zoltan led several DC projects from the concept stage through to construction till the end of operation handover.

Zoltán used to play water polo competitively; these days, his passions are cycling and swimming competitions.

Bio.