Amazon says that its British site has not seen any sales dip since the vote to leave the European Union, and in fact it is planning to create a further 1,000 jobs across the UK this year.
UK country manager Doug Gurr said that the site’s sales were in line with expectations and it was business as usual.
Gurr, who became Amazon’s UK head in May after a stint in China, said it was too early to say what the impact of the June 23 Brexit vote would be.
“There’s a lot of details to be worked out … We don’t know exactly what the regulatory environment will be, we don’t know exactly what the terms of the new separation will be,” he said.
A survey published last week showed confidence among British consumers fell sharply in the days after the referendum, while on Tuesday department store retailer John Lewis said its sales grew more slowly last week.
On Tuesday the boss of Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second largest supermarket group, said there was a danger of Britain talking itself into another recession.
Gurr said Amazon’s plans for the UK had not changed on the Brexit vote.
“We’re continuing with the plans, we haven’t suddenly invented new plans,” he said.
The additional jobs will take Amazon’s full time permanent employees in the UK to over 15,500 by the end of the year.
The status of EU nationals currently living in Britain has been clouded by the Brexit vote.
“What we’ve said to all of our teams is: ‘As far as we’re concerned nothing changes. We’re still part of the EU as of today, we’ll continue to operate on that basis,” said Gurr.
