Brexit? Schmexit. Amazon Ups UK Investment

In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, there was widespread concern that big multinationals, like Amazon.com, were going to suddenly find England to be a much less compelling place to do business. Particularly prevalent were concerns that a planned distribution center would have to be put on hold.

That Brexit fear at least looks like it is unfounded.

Reports are emerging today that Amazon will indeed construct a new warehousing and distribution center in Tilbury, a coastal southeastern English city. The new center will bring 1,500 jobs to the region when it opens in 2017. The Tilbury warehouse will be the firm’s 13th in Britain.

That news follows reports late last week that 5oo new jobs are coming soon to Doncaster, home of a different distribution plant in northern England.

All in, Amazon plans to add 3,500 in Britain in 2016 in a wide variety of roles, including head office, research and development, customer service, fashion photography, Amazon Web Services and distribution center jobs. That would take Amazon’s overall full-time permanent employees to 15,500 by the end of this year — something Amazon says it needs to keep up with growing demand. The eCommerce giant hopes to expand its product selection of more than 150 million items and add more independent small businesses to its Amazon Marketplace.

The news should not be much of a shock, though it’s being reported as surprising in some outlets. Amazon’s new U.K. manager Doug Gurr confirmed in July shortly after the Brexit vote that the decision to leave the E.U. would not effect Amazon’s investment plans in nation.

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