BUSINESS LIVE: Amazon hiring 55k more staff worldwide; Barratt enjoys surging profits; Competition watchdog provisionally blocks JD Sports merger
US-based online retail giant Amazon plans to hire 55,000 more staff globally, with thousands of jobs up for grabs in Britain too.
The company said all the open roles were for tech jobs and corporate positions. Amazon has been hiring thousands of warehouse workers to pack and ship online orders.
Critics claim Amazon’s exponential growth poses a further threat to independent businesses.
Elsewhere, housebuilder Barratt Developments has published a strong set of annual results this morning.
The group posted a 65.1 per cent surge in pre-tax profits for the year to 30 June, reaching £812.2million, up from £491.8million the year before.
JD Sports has been left ‘perplexed’ and ‘disappointed’ after the Competition and Markets Authority announced a preliminary decision to block its planned purchase of Footasylum following an appeal.
Kip Meek, chair of the group conducting the inquiry, said that the deal ‘would see Footasylum bought by its closest competitor,’ which could lead to a worse shopping experience for customers facing higher prices, a smaller range of products and less discounts.
