Amazon will open another fulfillment center in the UK, it announced over the weekend. Amazon emphasized the fact the new facility will support third-party sellers, a strategy no doubt designed to highlight that its platform helps small businesses, now that it’s facing heightened scrutiny by regulators.
Amazon has over 250 million unique products available on Amazon.co.uk, up by more than 100 million in the last 18 months. “This significant growth in selection could only happen with support of small and medium sized UK businesses selling on Amazon,” it said.
“Tens of thousands of independent businesses of all sizes sell on Amazon, with more businesses than ever using our Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) offering that handles logistics and customer service for them. The number of businesses taking advantage of FBA increased by more than 70% last year and half of all units stocked in Amazon’s UK fulfilment centres are FBA products.”
Amazon also called attention to the jobs it is creating by opening up the new facility, as it usually does in such announcements.
“Amazon has created over 27,500 jobs and invested over £9.3 billion in the UK economy since 2010 to provide convenience, selection and value to UK consumers, while helping to digitally empower more than 373,000 small businesses and content creators.”
Press release follows:
Amazon announced plans to open a new fulfilment centre in Kegworth, East Midlands, and begin recruitment for more than 500 new permanent jobs. Amazon’s new investment will help meet customer demand, expand selection and enable SMBs selling on Amazon to scale their businesses.
“We are thrilled to begin recruitment for 500 new permanent roles in Kegworth, with competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on day one,” said Stefano Perego, Amazon’s Vice President of UK Customer Fulfilment. “We are delighted to expand our operations in the East Midlands. With capacity to expand our workforce to over 1,000 permanent positions in the future, this new team will play a crucial role in delivering a first rate level of service for our customers.”
Amazon fulfilment centre employees receive competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. Pay starts at £9.50 for all full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees working in the company’s fulfilment centres. Employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount – which combined are worth more than £700 annually – as well as a company pension plan.
Amazon also offers employees an innovative programme called Career Choice that provides funding for adult education, offering to pre-pay 95% of tuition and associated fees for nationally recognised courses, up to £8,000 over four years.
“I was very pleased to learn that Amazon had chosen the East Midlands Gateway area for their new fulfilment centre and that in time it will provide 500 permanent jobs, and opportunities, for local people,” said Andrew Bridgen MP for North West Leicestershire. “The decision demonstrates the ever increasing strength of our thriving local economy and the confidence that business has in our area.”
Amazon has started recruiting for a range of new roles for the fulfilment centre, including operations managers, engineers, HR and IT specialists. Recruitment for the Amazon team in Kegworth who will pick, pack and ship customer orders will begin later this year. People interested in applying for jobs at Amazon should visit www.myamazonjob.com/fulfillment-centers/kegworth.
Amazon has created over 27,500 jobs and invested over £9.3 billion in the UK economy since 2010 to provide convenience, selection and value to UK consumers, while helping to digitally empower more than 373,000 small businesses and content creators.
Kegworth will be the fifth Amazon fulfilment centre in the Midlands, and joins facilities in Coalville, Daventry, Rugeley, and Rugby, which will open later this year. In addition, the first dedicated UK receive centre opened in Coventry in 2018, and acts as a central hub to receive and sort millions of products sold on Amazon.co.uk each year.
SOURCE: Amazon UK Press Release
