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Amazon offers a wide variety of products over the internet

Online retailer Amazon has announced plans to open a new processing centre creating 900 jobs in Staffordshire.

The centre, in Rugeley, will start processing orders from September and will deal with customers from the UK and across the world.

It follows Amazon’s announcement in May that it would create hundreds of jobs at new centres in Dunfermline and Edinburgh.

Since 1998 the company has sold a wide range of products over the internet.

‘Talented people’

These include books, music, computer games and electronic equipment.

The Staffordshire development comes despite Amazon revealing a steeper-than-expected drop in profits earlier this year because the cost of expanding its operations offset a jump in sales.

Arthur Valdez, vice-president of operations at Amazon.co.uk, said: “The centre at Rugeley will play an important role in fulfilling orders for customers in the UK, Europe and all over the world.

“We have a busy Christmas coming up and look forward to assembling a team of talented people who will play their part in ensuring that customers receive the millions of items that will be ordered over the festive season.”

Bombardier is the UK’s last train-making factory

Train-maker Bombardier, which recently missed out on the £1.4bn Thameslink contract, is expected to announce job losses later.

Last month, the Derby firm lost out to Siemens, which was named preferred bidder to build 1,200 carriages for the route between Bedford and Brighton.

Unions described the news as a “hammer blow” for British manufacturing.

Bombardier, which employs 3,000 people in the city, subsequently announced a full review of its UK operations.

Securing the Thameslink contract was regarded as crucial for Derby’s Litchurch Lane plant – the UK’s last rolling stock manufacturer – as most of its current orders will soon be completed.

Speaking on Friday, the leader of Derby City Council, Philip Hickson, said he expected the “full scale of the disaster” to be revealed this week.

Union pressure

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said the Siemens-led venture represented the best value for money for taxpayers.

But shadow business secretary John Denham and shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle have written to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to review the decision.

After losing out on the contract, Bombardier said it was working with unions and would keep employees informed, while the union Unite has pledged to put pressure on the firm and the government to keep the factory open.

Mark Young, co-ordinating officer of Unite, said: “The country that invented the railways is at risk of losing its ability to manufacture trains unless the government urgently rethinks its decision to award preferred bidder status to Siemens instead of Bombardier.

“The government can reverse this decision and get UK train manufacturing back on track.

“It is simply unsustainable for the government to claim to support UK manufacturing with one hand and then with the other hand take decisions which potentially wipe out an entire manufacturing sector.”