Amazon to deliver 5,000 UK jobs in 2017

Online retail giant Amazon has announced an expansion of its UK operations which will see the creation of 5,000 jobs, including at its head office in London.

The jobs to be delivered by the Seattle-based company will encompass a variety of roles, including software developers, warehouse staff and apprenticeships. It currently employs around 19,000 people in the UK already.

Amazon's growth in Britain is part of a wider expansion of operations throughout Europe, in which it will add 15,000 jobs across the continent.

"We are creating thousands of new UK jobs including hundreds of apprenticeship opportunities as we continue to innovate for our customers and provide them with even faster delivery, more selection and better value," said the head of Amazon UK Doug Gurr.

Three new warehouses, or fulfilment centres, will be built in order to keep up with its current growth and make deliveries faster.

"We are hiring for all types of roles from flight test engineers, software engineers and corporate managers in our development centres and head office, to operations managers, supervisors, engineers, service technicians, HR roles and order fulfilment roles in our fulfilment centres."

Major tech companies appear to be mostly unfazed by the prospect of Britain's exit from the European Union, following last June's referendum. Some firms in the financial sector have already indicated that they will be moving certain operations away from London as a result of Brexit.

Facebook previously said it would increase its workforce in Britain by as much as 50%, while iPhone maker Apple has committed to building a new UK headquarters at Battersea Power Station in London.