UK cities should follow Amazon’s blueprint for success

If we want to regenerate our cities, says Matthew Lynn, we should look at Amazon's list of demands for its new US HQ, and meet as many of the criteria as possible.

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There is a better way to foster growth
(Image credit: 2017 Getty Images)

Amazon has had a huge impact on Seattle in the quarter century since it set up its base in the city. In jobs, buildings and local taxes, it has added an estimated $38bn in net wealth between 2010 and 2016. That is hardly surprising. It has grown into the fourth-largest company in the world, measured by market value, and may soon be the biggest. Now, it is looking for a home for its new HQ. That will be a lucrative prize it will bring with it 50,000 jobs on an average salary of $100,000, and the spin-offs for the rest of the local economy will add a lot on top of that. The competition for that prize is a purely US one, but British cities should pay close attention.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.