Amazon’s £40bn investment to create nearly 10,000 jobs
Amazon will invest £40bn into the UK in the next three years as it looks to boost production and delivery capacity, creating 9,500 jobs in the UK.
The investment will provide funds to build four new robotic fulfillment centers, as well to refurbish the media giant’s film studios in Berkshire.
The three already-announced high-tech warehouses have been planned for the East Midlands, Northampton and Hull, with the fourth location still in the pipeline.
Amazon has said 8,000 jobs will be created by the four warehouses, and it will also add 1,500 jobs to its London site.
It already has around 75,000 members of staff in the UK.
Last year, workers at Amazon’s Coventry site came very close to union representation, but ultimately decided against the proposal in a ballot.
The company’s UK country manager, John Boumphrey, focused on the efficiency boost from the investment, saying that deliveries to customers will “come even faster… customers will get an increasing proportion of their deliveries available on the very same day.”
The trillion-dollar tech giant will also expand its Amazon Web Services operation in the UK, investing £8bn of the funding into data centres.
The race to build enough data centers to support AI’s ever-growing infrastructure needs has become front and centre of the tech race, although environmental campaigners have raised concerns over their greenhouse gas emissions and water usage.
But Prime Minister Keir Starmer supported the investment: “Amazon’s £40bn investment adds another major win to Britain’s basket and is a massive vote of confidence in the UK as the best place to do business,” he said.
CEO Andy Jassy said: “Amazon has been proud to serve our customers in the UK for the past 27 years. Thanks to their support, we’ve grown to be part of more than 100 communities nationwide, from developing drone technology in Darlington to producing world-class entertainment at our studios in Bray.
“When Amazon invests, it’s not only in London and the southeast — we’re bringing innovation and job creation to communities throughout England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.”