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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Enda Mullen

A new kind of Amazon fulfilment centre is opening in Rugby and creating 400 jobs

Amazon is creating more than 400 new jobs at its newest warehouse in Warwickshire.

But the new centre, based at Rugby Gateway, is only going to store and distribute one thing - alcohol.

The 'fulfilment centre' represents a first for Amazon in that it is the first to distribute one product - or three to be more precise - beer, wine and spirits.

Construction of the new centre is almost complete and it is due to open for business sometime this summer though a firm date is yet to be announced.

Measuring 270,000 sq ft, it is the size of three-and-a-half football pitches, on four levels and has five km of conveyer belts running around it.

David Tindal, site leader at the new Amazon fulfilment centre at Rugby Gateway (Coventry Telegraph)

It is creating around 400 jobs and will employ more than double that number at busy times, such as Christmas.

BusinessLive was invited to take a sneak peek behind the scenes as the fit-out process nears completion.

Site leader David Tindal, who has had a hand in the design of the new facility and will manage it when it is up and running, said: "We have announced 400 permanent jobs to start with but in busy times it could more than double.

"We are hiring at the moment at a variety of levels."

Mr Tindal added: "The maintenance people are among the first recruited and we have now got almost all of the management in place.

"Then it is moving on to team leaders and associates - the people who do the picking and packing

"We haven't done the hiring for tier one associate roles yet."

The new Amazon beer, wine and spirits fulfilment centre at Rugby Gateway (Coventry Telegraph)

Mr Tindal said associate hiring represented the final stage in the recruitment process and that they would start at the new fulfilment centre on a launch day where a team of experts from other centres come in and provide training.

He added that the company worked hard to retain its staff at all levels, particularly as there was lots of competition among employers based in and around the Rugby area.

"Rugby is in the centre of the UK and there is not much unemployment," he said.

"We want to recruit super-enthusiastic people and want people to stay working for us.

"We aim to create a family atmosphere and in doing so find that associates who work for us like the leadership and like their colleagues."

Inside Amazon's new facility in Rugby (Coventry Telegraph)

Mr Tindal said Rugby's central location was key to the site being chosen, meaning it is easier to ensure next day delivery to as many parts of the UK as possible.

He added that creating a new kind of facility for Amazon was exciting and something he was proud to play a part in.

"Because we haven't done it before, we are putting a lot of effort into making sure we get it right first time," he said.

"But once it is up and running, I know we will be doing lots of things to improve it too."

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