An era has ended in Milton Keynes. Amazon has announced the closure of its fulfillment center in the city, the very first site it opened in the UK back in 1998. The decision puts nearly 600 jobs at risk.

The e-commerce giant states that staff will be offered transfers to a new, automated facility in Northampton. The move reflects Amazon’s shift towards robotics and efficiency, replacing older, manual warehouses with high-tech hubs. For the workers who built the company’s UK presence, however, it is a bitter farewell.