How STACK Champions People-First Culture During HyperGrowth
As the data centre industry undergoes a series of rapid transformations, STACK EMEA has been evolving at equally lightning speed.
STACK EMEA is responsible for developing and operating data centres across Europe. Blue Owl Capital’s acquisition of IPI Partners, STACK’s investors, has only accelerated its growth and ambitions, kicking off what CEO John Eland says is a “very exciting period for us”.
“We maintain our focus on our core and incumbent markets — Milan, Frankfurt, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Zurich and Geneva — but we’re also now actively accelerating towards new markets,” John explains. And while the data centre industry is capital-intensive and highly competitive, STACK Infrastructure’s true differentiator, he says, is its people-first approach.
“We’re very much people first — when it comes to both clients and employees,” he says. “We’re very service driven.
“That’s what sets us apart, particularly within EMEA where there’s been so many widespread challenges in the GC delivery market.”
Despite not building in what John calls “traditional” markets, John and his team have faced — and adapted to overcome — a plethora of challenges thanks to STACK’s flexible and fluid thinking, both when it comes to client requirements as well as its own internal, cultural perspective.
STACK’s journey
STACK’s steadfast focus on culture has been put to the test during a period of hypergrowth. Since 2022, STACK has more than doubled its EMEA workforce, integrating legacy businesses in the Nordics, Switzerland and Italy while building a team in the UK at its London headquarters.
John notes: “We’ve been in hypergrowth mode from a sales and investment perspective, which is great. We’ve also been in integration mode.
“There’s a lot going on — and that brings challenges as well — but organisationally, we’re still very much people first. My job is to make STACK as culturally enjoyable as possible. I want it to be a safe place. Equality and inclusion are huge things for me.
“Our biggest asset is our people. They are the daily interface of our business, which is why we’ve had a firm focus on bringing in high-calibre individuals to take the organisation forward.”
Despite being a relatively new player in the data centre industry, STACK’s workforce of industry veterans is made up of people from across the largest and most established data centre companies in the world, some of whom have been with STACK EMEA while it was still in its startup phase. Now, John is finding the best talent interested in working for STACK.
“This is a great sign that, culturally, we’re doing something right,” John adds. “We're doing something right and we’ve got real momentum.”
STACK’s strategic focus
At the start of 2024, STACK EMEA created a dedicated business unit for enterprise colocation.
“We took the strategic decision at the start of last year to separate into two divisions,” John shares. “This gives a better service to the enterprise colo clients, allowing that unit to exclusively focus there, and likewise for our hyperscale clients.”
The separation attracted interest from investors. In May 2025, STACK EMEA made the significant strategic decision to divest its European colocation business, with an agreement in place for Apollo-managed infrastructure funds to acquire it. This move, John explains, was driven by the desire to sharpen the company’s focus on hyperscale data centre clients — the large cloud and internet companies that require vast, standardised facilities.
“It also allows us now, particularly with Blue Owl behind us, to hone in and focus on the hyperscale clients and requirements driving that real expansion-of-scale business.
“For me and my executive management team, it allows us to be exclusively focused on delivering for hyperscale rather than having one eye on the enterprise colo clients. It’s a strategic decision that makes business sense and makes sense for all stakeholder groups. It’s a good deal all around.”
Social impact as a core value
For John, social impact is not a tick-box exercise but a core part of STACK’s mission. He is passionate about giving back to the communities where the company operates, particularly as the data centre industry continues to grow at an unprecedented rate.
“This is nothing new but it’s really important to me that we give something back and engage,” John says. “Growth is exponential, so it’s so important that you build close links with communities and provide opportunities for people.”
At STACK, social impact initiatives have expanded significantly over the last two years, including its bee conservation projects in Italy and the Nordics and its partnership with STEM education programmes in Switzerland and the UK.
But the most ambitious programme to date is the STACK Academy. A skills-based learning programme designed to reach groups that are often overlooked by the technology sector, the STACK Academy was originally put forward as a traditional apprenticeship scheme and has since evolved into its current form in response to feedback from potential participants.
“We opened the age range up because we got a lot of inquiries from people who were in their 30s and 40s asking whether it was open to them or if they needed to be 18 to 21,” John shares. “The whole point of the STACK Academy is to target the harder to reach groups, the people who might not have the opportunities.
“I'm really trying to push this into European and UK public policy and the schools’ curriculum. If we can't get to people at school age, it’s a futile battle — we’re going to be constantly fighting this war of attrition.
“We need to educate the educators as well as reaching out to parents. We’re really trying to accelerate and push the outreach to people who don’t have opportunities. I want everybody to have the opportunity — whatever gender, social background, ethnic background you have — to come and work for us and come into the data centre industry.”
In a bid to embed data centre education across Europe, STACK partners with the likes of go-tec! STEM lab in Schaffhausen, just outside Zurich and EPFL University in Lausanne. It has also launched a pioneering scholarship scheme in the UK for girls studying STEM subjects.
“We need to make sure, in the harder to reach markets and societies that we're in, that we create our own STACK culture and we will drive that through,” John adds.
And, with the STACK Academy specifically bringing in talent directly from the communities in which it operates —Milan, Geneva and Oslo, for this year — it feeds back into STACK’s social impact drive to create value.
John continues: “There’s a business driver behind that as well. We are building facilities that are going to be there for more than 30 years, so I want my employees to live within 10, 20 minutes of the data centres. Operating in these areas, we want to give back to these communities. It makes good business sense to have your employee talent pool on the doorstep.”
Fostering an inclusive culture
John wants STACK to be a place where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute. The company’s rapid growth and integration of new teams have undoubtedly tested his workforce, but John believes the results speak for themselves.
The message is clear: STACK’s reputation for inclusivity and opportunity is attracting top talent from across the industry. He sees this as a sign that the company is on the right track, both culturally and commercially.
For John, the future of STACK in EMEA is inseparable from its commitment to people, community and meaningful social impact.
As the company continues its rapid growth across Europe, John remains focused on fostering an inclusive culture and expanding initiatives, like the STACK Academy.
For John and STACK, success will always be defined by the positive legacy they leave behind and the lives they help transform.
To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.