Amazon is targeting the custom of British start-ups by opening a base in London designed to support businesses using its cloud computing services, its first such facility outside the US.

The move comes amid fierce competition between providers of pay-as-you-go computing infrastructure, such as Google, Microsoft and a host of data centre companies.According to company filings, Amazon Web Services (AWS) generated $5.16 billion in revenue in the year ending March 31st. Many of its earliest customers were US tech start-ups such as Netflix, but the list has grown to include Fortune 500 companies.

Amazon's decision to open near the east London cluster of digital start-ups is another signal of its intent to become embedded within the city's digital companies. – (The Financial Times Limited 2015)