I was given a tour of Amazon's state-of-the-art fulfilment centre in Sutton Coldfield during the busiest week of the year

The £550 million state-of-the-art EMA4 facility, which spans about seven football pitches, is the most technologically advanced of its kind in the UK, with thousands of robots operating across the site.

At this time of year it’s like a giant Santa’s workshop, with conveyor belts of presents being packed and prepared for delivery in time for Christmas.

Incredibly slick and super clean, it’s a sight to behold.

It’s also strangely quiet for the busiest week of the year - the robots are doing most of the work at this site.

General manager Lisa Swan told us: “We’re one of the biggest sites in the West Midlands - shipping thousands of products everyday to satisfy our customers.

“We offer both same day and next day delivery to a lot of local customers.

“This week we’re supporting Santa to make sure that all those kids and adults get the things they need on Christmas Day.”

How it works​​​​

On arrival inbound goods arrive in boxes which are then conveyed on airport style conveyor belts to the upper three robotics floors where they are scanned, sorted and stored, all labelled digitally.

Then, when an order is placed online the items are located and moved for dispatch by what look like large robotic vacuum cleaners which move around the storage pods as if they are doing a coordinated dance. This area is highly dangerous and we were not allowed to step inside the fenced off area or even over the line.

The items, which at this centre are typically smaller goods - less than the size of a Monopoly board, are then placed in boxes and conveyed to the packing area where they are boxed or wrapped before being labelled and sent to the doors for dispatch to Amazon’s sortation centres - the nearest of which in the West Midlands area is Redditch. They then go onto more localised delivery stations where they are handed over to the delivery drivers who then bring the packages to your door - unless you live in a flat and then they will sometimes be left outside!

Around 3,000 people are employed at the giant 550,000 sq ft Sutton Coldfield centre, which opened just two years ago in 2023, with around 500 of those taken on as seasonal workers to cover the busy Black Friday and Christmas periods.

Not only does it resemble an airport as you walk in, the four-storey building has airport style security and, rather unusually, a HR department as you walk straight in - to make HR open, approachable and easily accessible so any HR or safety issues can be raised by team members across all departments at any time of the day.

Amazon operates strict health and safety procedures within its spotless looking warehouse - no baggy clothes or loose jewellery, no high heels and long hair must be tied back - but aside from that there’s a casual, be yourself style dress vibe.

There are also high tech safety vests which must be worn by those coming closest to the self-charging robots that move around the products.

The company’s attention to safety has earned the Sutton Coldfield fulfilment centre, and its counterpart in Swindon, prestigious five star accreditation from the British Safety Council - the highest recognition the organisation can award.

The teams at Sutton Coldfield and Swindon achieved top scores, over 95 per cent, after auditors assessed factors including employee safety and wellbeing, regulatory compliance and proactive risk management.

Although Amazon’s website is open for orders 24-7, including Christmas Day, hardworking staff members - who typically work 10-hour shifts - will get the big day off - with the factory pausing operations from Christmas Eve afternoon so that workers can enjoy the festive season with their families. Any orders placed will be processed from Boxing Day when operations get back up and running. The site also closes early on New Year’s Eve and for New Year’s Day.

Staff will also celebrate their successes in January which is when the centre holds its ‘Christmas’ party when things quieten down.

Many of the staff have previously worked at different Amazon sites with Fatima Zzahara, senior operations manager, saying: “It’s really good. It gives me the opportunity to see different sites and to see the difference between our legacy sites and robotic sites.”

Lisa Swan has worked for Amazon for more than five years and is overseeing her first Christmas as general manager at Sutton Coldfield - having moved to work for the online retail giant after a career in the automotive industry.

An Amazon spokesperson giving us the tour told how the business is less focussed on the previous posts held and qualifications possessed by potential employees and more interested in the skills and values they have.

Amnesty floor respondent Pooja Kanwar, whose role brings her closest to the relentless robotic workers, told how she enjoys the challenges her highly critical role brings.

“We have to be quick as well as being safe,” she told us.

Amazon, which employs around 75,000 workers in the UK, recruits around 15,000 seasonal workers for the busy Christmas period - with recruitment usually getting underway at the end of the summer.

GM Lisa said typically around 70 per cent of those taken on as seasonal workers go on to become permanent employees.

The company has created more than 6,500 full and part-time jobs across the West Midlands having invested more than £5.5 billion in the region since 2010, which has led to production of goods and services that has contributed an estimated £4.6 billion to the region's GDP over the last 15 years.