Ecommerce, tech and production giant Amazon has said it will invest £40bn into its UK operations over the next three years as it creates thousands of jobs and opens four new warehouses.
The online shopping giant will build two huge new fulfilment centres in the East Midlands, which it expects to open in 2027, with exact locations are still to be revealed.
Two others – in Hull and Northampton – were previously announced and are set to be finished this year and in 2026 respectively, with 2,000 jobs expected at each site.
Amazon is already one of the country’s biggest private employers with around 75,000 staff in its UK operation.
Two new buildings will also go up at its corporate headquarters in east London, while other investment includes new delivery stations, upgrading its transport network and redeveloping Bray Film Studios in Berkshire, which it bought last year.
The £40bn figure also includes most of the £8bn announced in 2024 for building and maintainance of UK data centres, as well as staff wages and benefits. The company also announced earlier this year that it will debut drone deliveries from its Darlington fulfilment centre (pictured).
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the investment into Amazon’s third-biggest market after the US and Germany was a “massive vote of confidence in the UK as the best place to do business.”
He added: “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.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves described the news as a “powerful endorsement of Britain’s economic strengths.”
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy stressed the investment would benefit communities across the UK.
“When Amazon invests, it’s not only in London and the South East,” he insisted. “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.”
The new sites will join existing major Amazon sites in the region including an Edinburgh development centre, corporate offices in Manchester and a host of fulfilment centres nationwide, including in Doncaster, Dunfermine, Gourock and Greater Manchester.
