Amazon opens new development center in London, the 'obvious choice'

Online retail giant Amazon is to open an international design and development center in London.

Amazon has rented an eight-storey, 47,000 square foot office situated near Barbican station. The new centre will be situated near London's technology hub, Shoreditch -- an area known as "TechCity" or "Silicon Roundabout".

Paula Byrne, the center's managing director, told The Telegraph that London was "the obvious choice" for the media development center. "When you look at the specialist skills that are available here, it is the obvious place to come," she added.

The center will house employees including software engineers, website specialists and graphic designers, all dedicated to the design and development of new products and services.

Staff on-site will be working on the creation of interactive digital services for TVs, game consoles, smartphones and PCs; improving customer experience on Amazon websites around the world; and developing digital media services and APIs, Amazon said.

Amazon is facing mounting pressure in the U.K. from rival on-demand services including the U.S.'s NetFlix and BSkyB's newly-launched NowTV.

The Seattle-based firm's current film and TV on-demand services, LoveFilm and Pushbutton, were both founded in the London, and staff from both of these U.K. subsidiar... [Read more]