Online retail giant Amazon UK is the latest firm to launch its Christmas recruitment drive, advertising for a mammoth 19,000 seasonable jobs. The majority of the festive roles will be in the company's warehouses and customer service centres across the country, reports ibtimes.co.uk.

John Tagawa, Vice President of Amazon’s UK operations, said: "We are 100% focused on providing an exceptional customer experience and to ensure that we maintain this high level of service during the Christmas period, thousands of seasonal associates will join our teams across the UK.

The company has eight distribution centres across the UK in Doncaster, Dunfermline, Gourock, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Rugeley and Swansea Bay. The retailer also plans to open a new operation up in Dunstable, which will create 500 full-time roles in the Bedfordshire town.

Amazon UK is not the only big business gearing up the Christmas retail rush as Royal Mail has also launched a seasonal recruitment drive. The company is also looking for 19,000 staff to help distribute the post over the festive period.

Sue Whalley, Chief Operations Officer of Royal Mail, stated: "Christmas is our busiest time of year. We plan all year round to help ensure we deliver the best possible service for consumers and businesses in the UK. Every Christmas, we make a substantial commitment in additional resources to handle the festive mailbag, including the recruitment of thousands of temporary workers."

Argos, which has launched a same day delivery service, is hoping to hire up to 9,000 workers across the UK to help with the Christmas spending splurge. The firm explained it would be looking to recruit 8,000 customer helpers and 1,000 delivery drivers.