Amazon announces new London office for 2017

New Shoreditch office will treble London workforce

Amazon has unveiled plans to build a new London office which could create more than 3,000 extra jobs.

The e-commerce giant said it plans to switch its main corporate office to a building in Shoreditch in 2017 that would have a capacity of 5,000 employees. Amazon's current headquarters are in Slough where it employs 1,700 staff.

Christopher North, Amazon UK's managing director, said: "To support our continued growth in the UK, we have secured this exceptional building giving us the capacity to hire thousands of new employees in London in the coming years, in addition to the thousands of permanent roles we will create across our UK fulfilment and customer service centres."

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said he was "very pleased" by the news that Amazon will create thousands of new jobs in the capital.

"We are proving time and again that we have the right places and people to support this vibrant sector," he said.

Amazon said its new building would be 600,000 square feet and over 15 storeys.

The developers, Brookfield Property Partners, said Principal Place was destined to become the "go-to" link between the City and the media-tech sector in Hackney and Shoreditch.