Amazon Manchester office will bring 600 skilled roles to the North West

Amazon’s new office in central Manchester will create 600 new skilled jobs in the North West, in its tech, digital and R&D departments, and bring more talent to the city.

Amazon chose Manchester for their new office due to the already existing pool of tech talent in the city-region.  It is the latest in a number of high profile names to come to the city, including GCHQ and BBC Sounds, which is making MediaCityUK its centre of operations.

The arrival of Amazon in Manchester should bring benefits for the wider business community.  It is hoped the company’s presence will further attract investment and skilled workers into Greater Manchester.

Amazon Web Services (AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing business) will bring its Start Up Garage to the Manchester office, providing support for new businesses to develop and grow.

AWS has also been running its re/Start training scheme in the city, offering a 12 week course for people with no or limited technology experience to develop both the technical, and employability skills needed to enter a career in software and cloud computing, and will hopefully provide a boost to Greater Manchester’s tech talent pool.  The first group to complete the Amazon scheme graduate from the new Manchester office today.

Amazon also announced a plan to launch a £3500 bursary for University of Manchester students from low-income backgrounds to study computer science in the city. The online giant’s graduate scheme will also have a presence in the city.

Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager for Amazon said:

I am delighted we’re opening our first corporate office in the North of England today. Manchester offers an incredible talent pool, a thriving hub of fast-growing UK tech start-ups and is a centre of academic and intellectual excellence.”

The 90,000 square foot office on Corporation Street, Manchester, is tech giant Amazon’s first corporate office in the UK outside London, and once fully operational, the company will employ over 6000 permanent staff in the North West, including its warehouse and distribution centres.