From rock and roll glamour to packing at Amazon: One couple's Covid story in Milton Keynes

Naomi and Dax Cook found their glamorous lifestyle froze along with their income during the Covid crisis.

They live close to the Amazon's massive Fulfilment Centre and saw six weeks ago that the company needed more staff to cope with the extra demands of lockdown and Christmas.

They jumped at the opportunity and now work together in the same shift pattern, with four days on and three days off.

Dax has been a merchandise manager for rock and roll tours for the past 15 years but his job is no longer viable during the pandemic.

"I travelled around the world to clubs, arenas, festivals and things like that. Covid-19 meant cancellations, but the main problem were the border and crowd controls that have been introduced this year," he said.

Naomi, a touring wardrobe mistress and costume maker for theatre, was having similar problems. "Covid-19 restrictions has meant no audiences," she said.

“Being a wardrobe mistress is the sort of job that you do because you love it. I’ve done it for over 20 years and have toured the country, the US and Europe, and also did one tour in the Far East with large scale musicals. It’s very varied, costumes are always different on different shows."

The couple are among hundreds of additional workers to join the MK team during this busiest time of the year.

Naomi said: “Amazon is an established company, the pay rates are better than some other places and the best part is that we work the same shift patterns, so travel together in the morning and help each other get up too!”

She added: “Peak, that’s what we call the festive period, means there are extra shifts and extra money there for the taking if you want them too.”

Amazon’s General Manager at the Milton Keynes fulfilment centre, Shauli Ziv, said: “Every day at Amazon, incredible employees like Naomi and Dax come together to deliver magical experiences for customers. It’s a great place to work with highly competitive pay, benefits from day one and training programmes for in-demand jobs – and we always prioritise the safety and health of our team.”

Fulfilment centres use cutting edge technology to ensure customer orders are picked, packed and shipped to millions of homes on time.

Pay starts at £10.80/hour depending on location for all full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal roles in Amazon’s fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations.

Employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount, which combined are worth more than £700 annually.