In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and UK opposition leader Keir Starmer announced a significant investment of £40 billion in the UK. This investment was celebrated as a demonstration of the effectiveness of Starmer’s economic strategy, which aims to promote growth and increase financial well-being for citizens. However, just four months later, Amazon experienced a substantial global outage that disrupted thousands of businesses and highlighted the UK’s reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Recent data indicates that the UK government has increasingly depended on AWS, having awarded it 189 contracts valued at £1.7 billion since 2016, with AWS invoicing approximately £1.4 billion during that period. Currently, 35 public sector authorities utilize AWS under 41 contracts totaling £1.1 billion. Notable departments like the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Justice maintain contracts with AWS.
Legal experts have noted the potential risks associated with such heavy reliance on a single cloud service provider, especially given the ongoing concerns about “concentration risk” in cloud service provision. Regulatory bodies like the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority have been emphasizing the importance of diversification to mitigate these risks. Despite these warnings, the UK government has yet to designate Amazon as a “critical third party” within its financial services sector, which would subject the company to intensified regulatory scrutiny.
In the recent outage, over 2,000 companies worldwide reported issues, with numerous users across multiple countries, including the UK, experiencing access problems. Although most services were restored after a few hours, some continued to encounter difficulties throughout the day. Among government entities, only HMRC reported issues, advising users to return later.
Concerns regarding Amazon’s labor practices have also arisen, with unions questioning the company’s treatment of its warehouse employees, as they argue that unfavorable working conditions could disqualify Amazon from receiving government contracts. AWS has not commented on these labor concerns.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/21/significant-exposure-amazon-web-services-outage-exposed-uk-states-17bn-reliance-on-tech-giant