Amazon plans major UK expansion to boost jobs, AI and economy

The investment will create thousands of new permanent, full-time jobs in the UK, with the vast majority outside of London and the South East. These include 2,000 jobs at the previously announced state-of-the-art fulfilment centre in Hull and 2,000 jobs at another in Northampton, plus additional positions at new sites in the East Midlands and at delivery stations across the country.

The announcement demonstrates Amazon’s commitment to supporting growth and productivity for the benefit of its customers, partners, and the wider economy, with the investment expected to drive innovation throughout the UK and contribute an estimated additional £38 billion (~$51.72 billion) to the UK’s GDP.

As a top 10 private sector employer, Amazon already employs over 75,000 people in the UK, providing roles of all kinds, at all levels, across every region of the country. Amazon pays full-time employees a minimum of £28,000 (~$38,108) per year, and will create over 60 different roles at the new sites, including positions for robotics technicians, safety experts, and mechatronic engineers, the company said on its website.

Alongside the planned creation of the new operations facilities, the £40 billion investment includes: opening two new buildings at Amazon’s corporate HQ in East London; ongoing investment to enhance Amazon's transportation infrastructure in every region, enabling faster and more efficient service to customers nationwide and critical support to the thousands of small and medium-sized UK businesses who sell their products on Amazon’s stores across the world; support for Amazon's workforce through competitive compensation, benefits, and pioneering training programmes; and ongoing commitment to the UK creative industry, including the redevelopment of the historic Bray Film Studios in Berkshire, continued investment in multimillion-pound skills and training programmes, and landmark original TV and film productions.

The investment also includes part of the £8 billion (~$10.89 billion) previously announced in September 2024 for building, operating, and maintaining data centres in the UK (from 2024-2028) to help meet the growing needs of organisations of all sizes, support the UK's ambition to increase AI compute capacity, and help transform the UK's digital economy.

"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 over 100 communities nationwide, from developing drone technology in Darlington to producing world-class entertainment at our studios in Bray,” Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, said.

"We now employ over 75,000 people and have become one of the UK's largest private sector employers and taxpayers. When Amazon invests, it’s not only in London and the South East – we’re bringing innovation and job creation to communities throughout England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, strengthening the UK’s economy and delivering better experiences for customers wherever they live,” added Jassy.

“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. It means thousands of new jobs—real opportunities for people in every corner of the country to build careers, learn new skills, and support their families. Whether it’s cutting-edge AI or same-day delivery, this deal shows that our Plan for Change is working—bringing in investment, driving growth, and putting more money in people’s pockets,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said.

Amazon is offering 1,000 new full-time apprenticeship roles this year, and already employs more than 75,000 people in over 100 sites across the UK. This new investment will supercharge its impact on local economies.

The data centre investment alone is expected to contribute £14 billion (~$19.04 billion) to the UK economy over 5 years (2024-2028) and support 14,000 full-time equivalent jobs each year – many of them in small and medium-sized businesses.

As part of its continued commitment to the UK, Amazon plans to invest £8 billion (~$10.91 billion) between 2024 and 2028 to build, maintain, and operate data centres in the UK. Customers in the UK can already access a comprehensive range of AI optimised chips, enabling them to train and deploy models, and build sophisticated AI and generative AI applications with exceptional performance. This investment will help meet growing customer demand for AWS technologies in the UK, including AI, and support the government’s goal of increasing the UK’s AI capabilities and AI compute capacity.

According to recent research, on average at least one business in the UK is adopting AI every minute. The investment is estimated to contribute £14 billion (~$19.04 billion) to the UK’s GDP over this period, and support an average of 14,000 full-time jobs annually at local UK businesses in the AWS data centre supply chain.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (RR)