Online retailer Amazon is to move its European customer service center from Britain to Ireland, to take advantage of better language skills

BBC News:

The new operation will answer queries from the UK and French websites and German version during peak times.

The centre will move from Slough to Cork, creating up to 450 jobs there.

"Cork offers the ability to provide our customers with multilingual support," said Jim Adkins, director of European customer services for Amazon.com.

The internet giant said it often needed to increase its customer service numbers especially around Christmas and found it hard to hire part-time employees with the requisite skills, reported the Financial Times.

In a 2005 European Commission poll conducted by Eurobarometer, 30% of UK inhabitants surveyed said they could speak a second language at conversational level.

In Ireland, this figure was about a third higher at 41%.

Amazon's customer service employees at Slough will be given the opportunity to relocate to the Cork operation, which will be based at the city's Airport Business Park.

The company's UK and Europe corporate operations will remain in Slough.

Amazon, based in Seattle, is one of the internet's largest retailers, posting revenues of over $8.4 billion (£4.8 billion) in 2005 selling CDs, DVDs, books and a range of electronic goods.

450 new jobs at Amazon Cork operation