Amazon invests $40bn in major UK expansion
Amazon will invest £40 billion in Britain over the next three years, including building four robotic fulfilment centres and refurbishing its film studios in Berkshire.
The East Midlands will host one of the high-spec warehouse sites, there are two centres being planned for Northampton and Hull, which the company had already announced, and the location of the fourth warehouse has yet to be decided.
With pay starting at £28,000 a year, 2,000 jobs will be created at each site by the expansion, which also involves the tech giant growing its vast London site into two further buildings that can house 1,500 people.
John Boumphrey, Amazon's UK country manager, said: 'By spreading out across the UK, you can get deliveries to customers even faster. One of the big advantages of this investment is going to be that customers will get an increasing proportion of their deliveries available on the very same day.'
The £40 billion figure includes part of a previously announced £8 billion spend to build, maintain and operate data centres by Amazon Web Services. Many companies are trying to tap into this growing market as demand for AI increases the need for digital infrastructure.
Amazon is also refurbishing Bray Film Studios, which it bought last July for an undisclosed sum, to produce content for Amazon Prime.
The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was made there and a new season of the Russo brothers' spy series Citadel started filming in September.
Boumphrey said: 'We've got a lease at Shepperton and we're currently filming in Manchester and Edinburgh and in Wales as well. There is a significant investment in being able to make, edit and produce films here, using British talent and British locations with British artists, which we are very excited about.'
Amazon is one of the UK's top ten private employers with 75,000 members of staff, and is offering more than 1,000 full-time apprenticeship roles this year.
Amazon has not always had an easy ride in this country, facing criticism over its safety record in its fulfilment centres; it also clashed with the GMB union over pay and conditions. The company has always rejected such claims.
Andy Jassy, Amazon's CEO 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.'
Sir Keir Starmer said: 'Amazon's £40 billion 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.'
Amazon Web Services announced a $20 billion investment in Pennsylvania and a $10 billion in North Carolina to expand cloud infrastructure. It also made a $13 billion investment in Australian data centres last week.
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