Amazon is creating hundreds of jobs at two new sites it is taking on in Leicestershire.
The global online retailer will create 700 new jobs this summer at a fulfilment centre in Hinckley.
A further 70 jobs are planned at a new delivery station at the East Midlands Gateway warehouse park on the Leicestershire/Derbyshire border.
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The new 150,000 sq ft delivery base near Kegworth will also create hundreds of driver opportunities, delivering around the local area.
An Amazon spokesman would not however comment on a report from the Property Week website that the business was planning to take a 411,000 sq ft shed at a third Leicestershire site – Magna Park, in the south of the county, near Lutterworth.
The jobs are part of an announcement today that Amazon is creating 10,000 new permanent jobs this year up and down the country, taking its 海角视频 workforce to 55,000 people.
The business is also creating 1,000 full-time apprenticeships in areas such as IT, HR software engineering and creative digital design.
East Midlands Chamber of Commerce chief executive Scott Knowles said: “Amazon is fast growing into one of the biggest and most important employers in our region, with the Hinckley fulfilment centre set to be the fifth of its kind in the East Midlands and joined by a smaller delivery station in Kegworth.
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“When added to the centres in Chesterfield, Coalville, Kegworth and Sutton-in-Ashfield, Amazon will employ 3,400 people permanently – with thousands more workers recruited temporarily for busy seasonal periods.
“The pandemic has accelerated pre-existing trends such as the transition from physical to online shopping and, as a result, we have witnessed numerous large warehouses popping up along the M1 corridor and around East Midlands Airport.
“These create hundreds of jobs on average each time, employing people who can then bring economic benefits back to our towns and cities.
“It’s therefore crucial for our region in particular, due to our central location nationally and reputation as a place where goods are made and moved, to embrace the logistics industry as an important part of our present and future economy.”
The Hinckley distribution centre is in the heart of the country, close to the M69 and A5 and a few miles from the M1 and M6.
The East Midlands Gateway site is just off the M1 and next to East Midlands Airport, and is part of a wider area that was recently granted freeport status.
It is understood that the vast new warehouse park’s developer SEGRO has agreed a 15-year lease for the unit with Amazon on a 21-acre plot, which will include double-decker parking for 200 electric vans.
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Practical completion of the new unit is anticipated in August.
Amazon already has a site at East Midlands Gateway, where other tenants include Games Workshop, DHL, the Very Group, Nestle 海角视频 and Amazon.
It said that new site will help streamline its delivery services in the local area and lead to “hundreds of driver opportunities for Amazon Logistics’ delivery service partners and Amazon Flex delivery partners.”
A spokesman said: “Delivery stations power the last mile of our order process and help speed up deliveries for customers.
“Packages are shipped to a delivery station from neighbouring Amazon fulfilment and sortation centres, loaded into delivery vehicles and delivered to customers.”
Kerry-Anne Lawlor, country director for Amazon Logistics, said: “We are excited to invest in the Kegworth area with a new delivery station that will provide efficient delivery for customers, and create new jobs for the talented workforce.”
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “Amazon’s announcement today is fantastic news and a huge vote of confidence in the British economy, helping us deliver on our commitment to level up across the 海角视频 with a whopping 10,000 new permanent jobs.
“As we build back better from the pandemic, this is a prime investment in our retail sector.
“Over the past year, Amazon’s workforce have pulled out all the stops to ensure consumers have had safe access to goods during this challenging time.
“Their latest investment will open up a wide range of opportunities for even more workers, helping to develop the skills needed to power tomorrow’s economy.”