E-commerce giant Amazon has opened its first development centre in Wales
Its new operation, at the SA1 waterfront scheme, will house Veeqo - the multi-channel shipping software firm it acquired last year - as well as other Amazon teams.
The expansion comes as Veeqo’s services have been made available for free to all 85,000 SMEs selling on Amazon in the UK, as well as the nearly 500,000 Amazon sellers based in the US.
With Amazon’s support, Veeqo has grown its head count since its acquisition by 50% from 80 to 120 with tech roles such as software development engineers, technical product managers, and knowledge engineers, as well as UX designers, product managers, and business analysts.
The new centre is at the 2 Technium building. Amazon’s existing fulfilment centre on the outskirts of Swansea, which employs several thousand people, recently celebrated its 15-year anniversary. Veeqo has moved from smaller offices in the centre of Swansea.
Veeqo chief executive Matt Warren founded the company in 2013 as an online seller who needed software that made shipping orders from multiple sales channels cheaper and easier.
He said: “Our new office in Swansea will be a hub from which Veeqo can build the services which make it easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses to sell around the world. “I am proud that Amazon saw the value of our amazing team, and that we have continued to create highly-skilled tech jobs in Wales.”
John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK country manager, said: “Swansea has been a centre of tech talent and academic excellence for many years now, so we are delighted to open our first development centre in Wales, working closely with Veeqo to build the cutting-edge tools which will supercharge growth for its ecommerce partners, benefiting millions of customers. This is a major milestone for Amazon’s commitment to Wales, where we have invested £1.7bn since 2010, and supported 2,500 small businesses sellers to date.”
First Minister Mark Drakeford, said: “The acquisition of Veeqo by Amazon is a vote of confidence in the tech sector in the region. It’s great to see the business attracting new investment and recruiting software developers and product designers. The investment in this new corporate office in SA1 by Amazon supports the regeneration of Swansea, creating sustainable employment on the waterfront.”
There are now more than 2,500 SMEs in Wales selling on Amazon as independent selling partners. More than half of these SMEs export globally. Last year they recorded £100m of export sales.
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