The entrance to Amazon’s warehouse in Bristol is barred by huge metal turnstiles behind which workers in high-vis jackets slip in and out. What’s inside is anyone’s guess. The first challenge, it appears, is getting in. It’s no wonder, really, that security is so high; millions of items are stored in this cavernous building at Severn Beach - from high-tech gadgets to dog toys and, even, Pot Noodles.
Shopping online has become the norm these days and when it comes to Amazon, there is often an expectation that items will be delivered the next day. The explosion of digital consumerism in the last two decades has driven huge growth in Jeff Bezos’ company which, for all its controversy, has become a major part of many people’s lives.
Since 2010, Amazon says it has invested around £1.6bn in the Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire area, with 2,500 small-and-medium-sized businesses in the region now using the platform to sell goods. Of the millions of products inside the Bristol warehouse, 60 per cent are from small companies, while the rest are Amazon’s own-branded items.
