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Amazon creates London development centre

01.01.70 | Katie Allen

Amazon is to open a new centre in London to focus on research and development in order to boost its progression into film and on-demand television service deliveries.

The company’s spokesperson Paula Byrne said London was a “hotbed of tech talent”, with London’s mayor Boris Johnson also calling the investment a trigger which would “propels us well up the league table of global tech cities".

Hundreds of employees are expected to move to the site in Glasshouse Yard in Barbican in the coming months to work on Amazon’s digital projects, including creating services for internet televisions and smartphones, with developers from Amazon’s subsidiaries Lovefilm and Pushbutton to be moved into the offices. The move is part of the company’s efforts to compete with other on-demand services such as America's Netflix and BSkyB's NowTV.

Byrne said: "London is a hotbed of tech talent and testament to that fact is Amazon choosing the capital as the location for the new global digital media development centre. Innovation is part of the Amazon DNA and we are creating a British centre of excellence to design and develop the next generation of TV and film services for a wide range of digital devices."

Johnson said he was “thrilled” to welcome Amazon's “new international digital centre to London".

He said: "For this wildly successful and dynamic company to choose our city to site such an important facility is a splendid feather in our cap. We know we have the talent, the space and infrastructure to make the most of the digital economy - this will be my prime message during Games-time, as I seek to woo even more companies for the capital, delivering jobs and growth for Londoners.”

• amazon
• Lisa Campbell
• London
• Retail