Amazon to invest 40 billion pounds in UK over 3 years
LONDON
Online retail giant Amazon will invest 40 billion pounds ($54 billion) in the U.K. over the next three years, the government said Tuesday, a boost for Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he struggles to kickstart the economy.
Starmer, who met Amazon CEO Andy Jassy last week, said the announcement "adds another major win to Britain's basket and is a massive vote of confidence in the U.K. as the best place to do business.”
The 40 billion pounds will be used to build four distribution centers, creating an estimated 4,000 jobs, and to renovate the historic Bray Film Studios, acquired in July 2024.
In December, Amazon signed an agreement with Games Workshop, the British company that owns the rights to "Warhammer 40,000", to produce films and TV series based on the futuristic fantasy universe.
The investment also includes part of the 8 billion pounds previously announced in September 2024 for building, operating and maintaining data centres in the U.K., aimed at boosting AI computer capacity.
Jassy announced last February that Amazon would invest more than $100 billion this year, primarily to boost its cloud and AI capabilities.
Australia was the focus last week, when the U.S. firm announced $13.3 billion over five years for its data centres, the largest technology investment ever made in the country.
In June, Amazon also announced major investments in North Carolina ($10 billion) and Pennsylvania ($20 billion), again for data centres and AI projects.
Amazon is currently under investigation by the U.K. Food Regulator, suspected of late payments to food suppliers.
If found guilty, Amazon could be fined up to one percent of its annual U.K. turnover.
