Amazon announces opening date for £107 million Peterborough distribution centre that will create 1,400 jobs
Internet retailer Amazon has revealed the opening date for its new £107 million warehouse in Peterborough as it creates about 1,400 jobs in the city.
The online behemoth says the new 690,000 square feet One Distribution Centre, which is intended to quicken deliveries to customers, will open its doors on September 28.
The new centre is based in a warehouse just metres from its main fulfilment centre at Kingston Park, Flaxley Road, where it already employs more than 1,000 people.
It is Amazon’s first centre of its type in the UK and will store products from suppliers and will be able to rapidly replenish its fulfilment centres.
A spokesperson for Amazon said: “The new centre will open in the week starting September 28.
"He added: “We have completed recruitment for the time being but there will likely be other rounds of recruitment as capacity increases at the site.”
Amazon has recruited engineers, HR and IT professionals, health and safety, and finance specialists among the staff for the new centre.
As well as the site centres in Flaxley Road, Amazon also operates a distribution centre at Waterworth Road, Alwalton Hill at Gateway Peterborough.
The Amazon spokesperson said that the purpose of the One Distribution Centre would be to store products from suppliers and that could be used to rapidly replenish Fulfilment Centres across the UK.
It is expected the new centre will cut out processing steps and speed up deliveries to customers.
The development of the site is part of Amazon's £40 billion UK investment plan for 2025–2027.
Amazon is one of a number of Peterborough companies creating jobs.
Recent figures from the Department of Work and Pensions shows there are currently more than 400 vacancies available across the city that are being promoted by the city’s Jobcentre through its Find a Job service.
A Jobcentre spokesperson said the vacancies are in a variety of sectors including healthcare, various office-based roles and warehousing.
News of the employment boost for Peterborough comes as a new report shows that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough needs to find 295,700 additional workers between now and 2035.
The new Local Skills Improvement Plan, which is being jointly developed by Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, reveals 253,100 of those workers are needed just to replace people retiring.