US' Amazon to open £450 million state-of-the-art fulfilment centre

Recruitment has started for a wide range of new roles from engineers to HR and IT professionals, health and safety and finance specialists through to the teams who pick, pack, and ship customer orders.

Stockton-on-Tees is Amazon’s fourth fulfilment centre in the North East of England following the opening of centres in Darlington in May 2020, Durham in September 2020 and Gateshead in September 2021. The 2,000 new jobs created will take Amazon’s total workforce in the North East to 6,000 full and part-time roles, and the company’s investment in the region to more than £1.7 billion since 2010.

Amazon has invested over £56 billion in the UK since 2010, including more than £12bn in 2022 alone, and recently announced plans to open another fulfilment centre in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, later this year creating 400 additional new jobs for the region.

“Amazon’s announcement is very welcome news for our area as it will see high quality jobs and substantial investment brought to Stockton-on-Tees,” said Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North. “I was impressed by the modern state-of-the-art robotics building which I visited earlier this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing the site fully open and operational this autumn, creating 2,000 new permanent local jobs and adding to Amazon’s already significant investment in the North East.”

“I’m thrilled by the news that Amazon has chosen Stockton for this state-of-the-art facility, which will bring another 2000 skilled job opportunities to our local workforce. Figures released by the ONS last month showed that the North East has seen the largest increase in employment rate. Amazons welcome decision is another example of how Stockton has become an attractive place to invest,” Matt Vickers, MP for Stockton South, said.

Marianna Desai, Amazon’s regional director, added, “I am delighted to announce Amazon’s continued investment in the North East of England with the opening of a new fulfilment centre in Stockton-on-Tees, creating 2,000 new permanent jobs. I look forward to recruiting talented individuals in a diverse range of roles, from engineers and IT professionals through to the teams who will handle customer orders.”

In addition to competitive pay, all employees at the Stockton-on-Tees fulfilment centre will also be offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount – which combined are worth thousands of pounds annually – as well as a company pension plan, Amazon said in a press release.

Like all fulfilment centres in the UK, employees caring for school-age children, including parents, guardians and grandparents, will also be able to apply for term-time working. Amazon’s innovative new contract guarantees time off during the six-week summer break, as well as each two-week holiday period at Easter and Christmas, with all other benefits remaining the same.

Amazon also offers employees an innovative programme called Career Choice that provides funding for skills development through nationally recognised courses of up to £8,000 over four years. Career Choice enables employees to develop their careers with Amazon or other employers.

Energy efficiency is a top priority in the construction of the new fulfilment centre, with building management systems which will ensure a comfortable working environment for employees at the same time as reducing unnecessary energy consumption. Amazon is the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy and is on a path to powering our operations with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025 – five years ahead of our original target. The building will also be fitted with solar panels and employees will have access to electric vehicle charging.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)