Bosses at the Amazon fulfilment centre have revealed that they had to open the facility a year early to cope with the demand.

In November 2021, the American giant opened a new factory and office space at the Symmetry Park industrial estate.

It had a large impact on the town’s economy with over 3,000 people being recruited to help run the facility.

And it came at the right time for Swindon - just a few months earlier in July 2021, Honda closed its factory in South Marston, bringing the curtain down on 36 years of manufacturing in Swindon.

Now ahead of the one-year anniversary celebrations in November, managers have been reflecting ahead of the milestone.

Swindon Advertiser:

In an exclusive interview with the Adver, facility general manager, David Tindall said: “We were going to open the building this year, but we were really busy last year.

“So, we paid the builders a lot of money to get the building finished a year early and it was a bit of a race to get the building ready.

“I am really pleased with the fulfilment centre, it’s really well designed, we have a superb workforce and the engineering is really good.

“I think we have been really fortunate with the associates that we have hired, most of whom come from Swindon, and they have been really good to work with.”

As previously reported, the presence of the online shopping giant filled the gap vacated by the Japanese car manufacturer.

Mr Tindall said: “It was lucky in terms of timing because Honda shut in Quarter three, so I think the timing was very fortunate with us being such a big employer coming in so soon after that.”

Nigel Ramcharan, a former Honda employee who has now gone on to work at the Amazon fulfilment centre has given his thoughts as the first-anniversary celebration approaches.

Speaking to the Adver, Nigel said: “It’s good for Swindon and I think it is good for economy.

“The one-year anniversary is well deserved and should be celebrated, Amazon has done well for Swindon from a local aspect and I hope they stay.

“I have found a lot of younger guys coming here who are not really skilled to do a technical job and found themselves being able to be trained and have some career choices.

“It’s pretty much fantastic to have this facility right now for us in Swindon.”