Internet retail juggernaut Amazon is to create 20 new permanent jobs in Cornwall by opening a “delivery station” in Redruth.
The retail behemoth aims to have the unit in Parc Erissey Industrial Estate open by summer 2020, and accepting items from Amazon “fulfilment” centres so they can then be loaded onto vehicles and delivered to customers.
It is the second South West warehouse announced by Amazon in just a month, after the company said it is to create a Plymouth “delivery station” in the huge building that was home to shopping rival The Range, in Estover, in the north of the city.
Kerry-Anne Lawlor, director of Amazon Logistics, said: "We are excited to open a delivery station in Redruth where Amazon's 20-plus years of operational expertise, technology advancements and investment in transportation infrastructure is enabling faster delivery for customers than ever before seven days a week."
The online retail giant said the move will create 20 jobs at the 4,000sq m facility, and that it will work with independent delivery companies who will hire 80 drivers to collect parcels from the delivery station and take them to customers throughout the county.
Redruth mayor Deborah Reevem said: "This is an excellent show of confidence in the Redruth economy. We welcome the investment into our community and the employment opportunities that this will create."
Meanwhile Amazon will open its new 6,000sq m Plyjnouth delivery station in Thornbury Road, Estover, replacing the current operation in Broadley Park Road, Roborough, which opened last summer as a temporary facility while Amazon secured a site to meet its longer-term needs.
The firm said the Plymouth delivery station will also see an increase in the number of permanent Amazon Logistics employees from more than 15 now to about 25. The depot is expected to be fully operational by Spring 2021.
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Amazon Logistics said its move is to meet increasing customer demand and is also helping independent delivery companies grow their businesses.
The Seattle-headquartered e-commerce heavyweight said it also adds capacity and flexibility to Amazon’s delivery network and will
provide the “fast and reliable delivery Amazon customers love and trust”.
Packages will be shipped to the delivery station from Amazon “fulfilment and sortation” centres and loaded onto vehicles to be delivered to customers.
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Five delivery companies provide services to Amazon in Plymouth using more than 85 drivers who collect parcels from the delivery station and take them to Amazon customers in the Plymouth area.
This will increase to more than 100 when the new delivery station opens, the firm said.
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But the retail juggernaut has been criticised because many of its workers are in low-skilled and low-paid jobs.
It continues to hit pay dirt, however, and earned US$87billion (£66billon) in sales in the last three months of 2019, well ahead of analyst expectations.