This is how much money Amazon has invested in Yorkshire, according to the company’s own data

The Amazon UK Economic Impact Hub provides new regional data – broken down by NUTS-1 and NUTS-2 statistical regions – on the jobs Amazon creates, the independent small business selling partners the company supports, and the economic activity sparked through Amazon’s investments.

The data reveal that the company has created more than 2,500 full and part-time jobs in the region. More than 440 people have completed Amazon’s employability skills training programme, and more than 60 apprentices have qualified from the Amazon Apprenticeship programme since 2010 across the region.

Amazon has more than 4,600 small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon as independent selling partners, and small business from the region selling on Amazon recorded more than £190m of export sales in 2020.

The online tool also reveals the ripple effect through the economy as the firms that supply goods and services to Amazon expand and associated household spending increases. According to Keystone, an independent economics consultancy, Amazon’s investments have led to the production of goods and services that has contributed an estimated £1.5bn to the region’s GDP since 2010.

In addition, Amazon says it delivered more than 310,000 free, healthy breakfasts to children from low-income families across Yorkshire and the Humber in 2020, by partnering with Magic Breakfast.

John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK country manager, said: “Amazon is passionate about creating jobs, empowering SMEs and supporting the communities where we live and work. Our new Amazon UK Economic Impact Hub shows our on-going commitment and contribution to Yorkshire and the Humber at a local level for the first time.

“The region has been a fantastic home for us for many years and we are excited by the opportunity to continue to invest, invent and have a positive impact in the local community.”

However, the company’s positive economic record in Yorkshire and the Humber has not been without blemish. Earlier this year, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism uncovered evidence that agency workers used by Amazon, including some of those at a vast £60m complex at the Logic Leeds Distribution Park in east Leeds, had been left in the lurch with zero-hours contracts – in breach of the company’s stated policies – in a situation described by the GMB union as “exploitative”.

In May, it was also revealed that Amazon had rung up sales of £38bn in Europe in 2020 – half (£19.4bn) of which was accounted for by UK customers – yet it had paid no corporation tax, despite making record profits during the pandemic.