If you’re interested in hosting your website in the UK, your motives can probably be summarized in a single word: access. You want access to the local markets, your target audience being native English-speakers or local businesses. Otherwise, you’d be looking for cheaper or higher-quality solutions elsewhere.
But let’s say you’re dead-set on the United Kingdom. What will you be dealing with there?
Information technology in the British Isles has had its ups and downs over the years. Coverage is an issue even today, especially in rural areas where 17% of households don’t have access to broadband. On the other hand, the infrastructure is heavily centralized — London is a major hub with excellent IT facilities, including 79 colocation data centers (followed at a distant second by Manchester with 23.)
The laws regulating information privacy in the UK are in a state of flux. The much-discussed Data Protection Act of 2018, meant to complement the GDPR, allows plenty of leeway to data collecting agencies. With censorship on the rise and the UK still in the process of leaving the EU, it remains unclear what the regulations will look like in the future.
As for hosting options, there’s certainly plenty to choose from. Both the prices and the quality of service vary widely, so make sure you have your priorities straight before making the pick. To help you figure things out, here’s a comprehensive list of affordable hosting providers currently operating in the United Kingdom, based on user reviews.
