Amazon Print-On-Demand centre celebrates five years in Dunstable

The celebration, organised as a thank you to the Dunstable team for the work it does for customers around the UK, involved birthday cake, quizzes and games.

The Amazon print-on-demand centre is one of the UK's largest book printing facilities. Its production capacity plays a vital role in meeting the demands of publishers, partners and customers across the UK.

The centre opened in 2018 and employs over 200 permanent employees. It has a variety of different printing and binding machinery working in a harmonious rhythm to ensure books keep rolling off the press all year round. Anyone can use the service and many of the books printed there are by first-time authors using Kindle Direct Publishing.

In 2023 so far, the Amazon print-on-demand team has made donations totalling more than £3,000 to charities including Luton and Dunstable Hospital and Tokko Youth Centre.

Last month, as part of the Amazon Goes Gold for Kids with Cancer campaign, the centre welcomed a group from Keech Hospice to take a tour of the site and see books with drawings of their favourite things be printed and bound.

Speaking on the centre’s anniversary, David Locke, Head of Print on Demand, said:

“We have a really special site here which is one-of-a-kind in the UK and we’re so happy to be marking five years of operation. I’m proud to say we’re based in Dunstable and equally proud of the huge numbers of books we print here – not just by mainstream authors, but also by those people who have self-published for the first time. That’s a big part of what we do and it’s brilliant to see dreams made and careers often taking off.

“I’m also very proud of our amazing team who do everything they can to ensure we’re a successful mix of cutting-edge technology and traditional bookmaking.”

Abdul Alim, an employee who has worked at Amazon for 15 years, added:

“It’s a unique site which is very different to anything else Amazon has in the UK. The team gets to see so many kinds of books being printed by national authors and by first-time writers who have self-published. And it’s still so interesting to see the whole process from scratch, from blank pages all the way through to covers and binding.”

“Our state-of-the-art equipment works really fast, and Amazon invested in some special training for some of us in Spain to gain a qualification in these printers. We’re a really close-knit team and it’s a pleasure to work here and to see so many new books every single day!”

At Amazon, pay starts between £11 and £12 per hour for all for all full-time, part-time and seasonal workers to help pick, pack and ship customers’ orders.

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.

For more information about the Amazon print-on-demand centre visit https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/working-at-amazon/exclusive-photo-tour-amazon-print-on-demand-centre.