Amazon still plans to open UK datacenters despite Brexit vote
Despite the Brexit vote, Amazon is set to open a new datacenter region and create additional jobs in London and across the UK.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is pushing ahead with plans to add a datacenter region in the UK, despite the country voting to leave the European Union.
Speaking at AWS Summit in London, Gavin Jackson, AWS managing director for the UK and Ireland, looked to reassure customers that despite the referendum result, which has led to uncertainty over many companies' plans for the future, Amazon is still committed to opening new datacenters in the region by next year.
"In light of the Brexit vote, I just wanted to reassure all of our customers that we see the UK as a fast innovator. We see the UK as a huge talent pool and as a fast adopter of technology trends, and our job at AWS is to help you innovate through technology. So we at AWS will continue to be an inward investor into the UK," he said.
"And yes, we'll continue our path to open a UK region at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Our message to everyone in this room is to keep calm and carry on innovating in the UK," Jackson added.
Opening a UK datacenter region for local cloud services means customers' data will remain in the UK -- something AWS hopes will make the company more attractive to other companies with privacy concerns about data being shared between Europe and the US.
Amazon has also revealed plans to create 1,000 new permanent jobs in the UK, in addition to the 2,500 new roles the company previously announced.
"We are hiring for all types of roles -- from software engineers, computer programmers, and corporate managers in our R&D centers and head office to operations managers, engineers, service technicians, HR roles, and order fulfillment roles in our fulfillment centers," said Doug Gurr, Amazon's UK country manager.
The new roles will be spread across London, Manchester, Cambridge, Leicestershire, and Edinburgh and will take Amazon's total UK workforce to over 15,000 permanent staff.
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