It seems data centres have become the latest victims of the credit crunch.
But how much that is being blamed on the 'credit crunch' is really just a case of a convenient and topical excuse being used and abused for the purposes of PR?
In the data centre example, real estate advisor CB Richard Ellis claims the 'credit crunch' has led to a marked decrease in the amount of data centre space being taken up in the capital because of the high number of financial services companies in the City.
It's an easy conclusion to draw and the good people at CB Richard Ellis will be as aware as anybody that finding a 'credit crunch' angle plays well to the current media agenda. Whether it's the case or not. It seems likely banks will be reining in spend but unlikely they would compromise on business continuity.
Similarly, it seems likely financial services companies would also be looking further-a-field for back-up and hosting services – Iceland being a popular location.
A further issue is the limited availability of data centre space within the M25. If it's not available then little wonder it's not being bought up.
There is an interesting issue here but I suspect the credit crunch is the least influential but most 'newsworthy' factor.
The always interesting Tim Weber, business editor at the BBC, confirmed as much last week during a meeting with a team here at LEWIS PR. Tim told us he is far from bored of the credit crunch and in fact suggested it would be a "a bad journalist" who is. This owes much to the fact, Tim assures us, that there remains a keen interest among the public in the coverage given to the ailing economy.
I wonder whether that's a self-fulfilling prophecy to a degree though given just how much coverage is being given to the 'credit crunch'.
After all, if all they sold in supermarkets was sausages, you wouldn't question their claims that sausages were proving popular with the public.
(* Crunch-washing – the tendency to shoe-horn in a credit crunch angle in order to make a story newsworthy. You heard it here first.)
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