Amazon creates 1,200 jobs at fulfilment centre
The centre will take the number of permanent jobs created by the online retailer in the north west of England to more than 3,500.
Amazon has started recruiting for a range of new roles for the fulfilment centre, including operations managers, engineers, human resources and IT specialists.
Stefano Perego, Amazon’s director of UK customer fulfilment, said: “Our ability to expand in the north west of England is the result of two things: incredible customers and an outstanding workforce.
‘Our ability to expand’
“We are thrilled to begin recruitment for 1,200 new permanent roles in Bolton with competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.”
The Bolton site will be equipped with advanced Amazon Robotics technology. Robots will be used to slide under a tower of shelves where products are stowed and transfer products to the fulfilment centre.
Last year, Amazon announced that it would open fulfilment centres in Daventry, Doncaster, Warrington and Tilbury in 2017. The Daventry site opened in February, while Doncaster, Warrington and Tilbury have recently started their operations, bringing the total number of sites in the UK to 16.
Amazon said it was increasing the size of its UK fulfilment centre network to meet increasing customer demands, expand selection and enable small and medium sized enterprises selling on Amazon Marketplace to scale their business.
Invested £6.4bn
Amazon claimed to have invested £6.4bn in its UK research and development, head office and fulfilment and logistics infrastructure since 2010.
Meanwhile, in August, Amazon’s £10.8bn ($13.7bn) takeover of US organic retailer Whole Foods Market was approved by the country’s competition regulator.
Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods is set to be the biggest in the online retailer’s history and would likely see it take control of more than 460 stores across the US, Canada and the UK.
Daniel Domberger, partner at business consultancy Livingstone, said the acquisition could open the door for similar deals between online retailers and grocery companies.
