Amazon’s 海角视频 manager has told of the global firm’s pride after investing more than £650m into its North East operations.
North East business leaders gathered at the Sage Gateshead for the North East England Chamber of Commerce’s first Large Business Summit, where they heard the full scale of the online retail giant’s investments in the region.
Amazon’s 海角视频 country manager John Boumphrey delivered the keynote speech at the summit, highlighting its rapid growth in the North East during the pandemic, while also shining a light on work it is doing to help small businesses grow, as well as the economic and social contribution Amazon makes in the North East and across the 海角视频.
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Over the course of the pandemic the company has opened fulfilment centres in Darlington, Durham and Gateshead, recruiting vast numbers of employees.
Mr Boumphrey told the chamber members about the company’s work with employees and the wider community through a number of training and digital literacy initiatives, including giving staff access to funding for training courses, whether or not they are relevant to their work at Amazon.
He said the firm, which also has delivery centres across the region, also managed to recruit into the regional centres by working with Job Centre Plus while also offering referral incentives.
He said: “We’ve actually been here in the region since 2015 when we opened our first delivery station in Washington. Whenever we come to a region we look for four factors – is there established consumer demand? Is the necessary infrastructure in place? Is there a talented and enthusiastic workforce? And also is there a thriving community where people want to live?
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“We have found answers to all four of these questions in abundance in this region and we’ve been incredibly proud to invest and proud to continue to invest in the North East.
“In fact, over the last 10 years we’ve invested more than £650m in the North East, these are significant physical investments, as you can see as you are driving down the road from Durham, in facilities that will be part of how Amazon serves its customers in the North East for decades to come.
“With our recent investments we have created more than 4,000 jobs here in the region in the last 18 months.
“We’ve also helped more than 1,400 small companies in the North East to grow their businesses by selling on Amazon.co.uk, supporting thousands of further jobs as well. Our sellers here in the North East are also an international success, and they generated more than £15m of export sales on Amazon in 2020.”
Mr Boumphrey said Amazon was “here to help” businesses, and wanted to aid cloud service adoption within businesses, while also addressing the need for digital skills across the 海角视频, through initiatives such as its AWS Skillbuilder, a digital learning experience that gives anyone with an internet connection access to 500 free courses.
He said: “AWS, our cloud computing arm, also has a great deal to offer the North East, where it has a great deal of potential for cloud adoption.
“We commissioned research last year that indicated that 海角视频 businesses running AWS are already benefiting from their use of the cloud to the tune of more than £8.7bn of additional GVA – more than is generated for the 海角视频 economy by the Premier League or music industry.
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“If we could boost digital cloud usage in the North East to match that of London, our report estimated that it would raise local productivity by 2.6%.”
He also told how the firm got all three centres up and running during the pandemic.
He said: “As I reflect over the tremendous challenges we’ve faced over the last two years, we’re like every other business.
"But we’ve been fortunate, not only to have been able to continue operating during the pandemic but also to see a surge in demand for our services. Meeting that demand has been a challenge, and all three of the buildings in this region have opened since the pandemic started, and that’s meant that the 4,000 members of our team have only ever known work at Amazon under Covid protocols.”
During the summit, new CEO John McCabe told Chamber members how, with the aid of a number of the organisation's toolkits and initiatives, collaborate to create, and take advantage of, new opportunities.
He said: "I’ve been in this role as your Chamber chief executive for a little over six weeks and it is truly a privilege to represent you, to work with you and to play a part in building a better, stronger and more inclusive North East.
"I’ve learnt so much from every single conversation I’ve had with you, our members and if we haven’t yet met, I’m eagerly looking forward to doing so.
"In this room we have some of the largest, most successful and most influential businesses in the North East. I believe that you and the Chamber can fill the leadership gap in this region and proactively set our own agenda.
"The Chamber itself can play a convening role – bringing together the various sectors and institutions that combine to form the ecosystem of the North East – and you our members can lead with your words and actions in your businesses."
The Large Business Summit also hosted a panel discussion on how businesses and organisations can work together better to benefit the region after the pandemic, with representatives from Northumbria Police, Durham University, Changing Lives, Citizens Advice Gateshead and Embracing care.