The building of Amazon’s new fulfilment centre in Bolton is in full swing ahead of its opening later this year and Amazon has today announced that a man who knows the town well will become its General Manager.

Paul Ashraf, previously General Manager at Amazon’s fulfilment centres in Gourock and Dunfermline in Scotland, will become General Manager at the site. When the site opens later this year, it will begin recruitment for 1,200 new full time permanent jobs which will provide competitive pay and comprehensive benefits from day one.

Speaking on his appointment as General Manager, Manchester-born Paul Ashraf said: “I’ve really enjoyed leading the Amazon teams in Dunfermline and Gourock over the last few years and I’m incredibly excited to be coming home to the North West when our new site opens. I’ve been a regular visitor to Bolton for most of my life and I know first-hand that there’s great talent in the local area. I’m encouraging lots of local people to apply for roles with us, from the associates who will pick and pack customer orders to the engineers, HR and IT specialists who keep the site up and running.”

The pay rate for permanent Amazon employees increases over their first two years of employment, when all employees earn £8.35 an hour and above.

All permanent Amazon fulfilment centre employees are given stock grants, which over the last five years were on average equal to £1,000 or more per year per person.

Employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount, which combined are worth more than £700 annually, as well as a company pension plan.

Amazon also runs an innovative programme called Career Choice that provides employees funding for adult education, offering to pre-pay 95% of tuition and associated fees for nationally recognised courses, up to £8,000 over four years.

Recruitment for the range of roles has already begun and people interested in potential opportunities should visit www.myamazonjob.com/opportunities.

The new fulfilment centre in Bolton will join Amazon’s 16 fulfilment centres across the UK.