Monica Ariño is director of public policy for the UK and Ireland at Amazon, a position she assumed in April 2020. The last year has seen Amazon move in the opposite direction to other retailers by opening its first physical stores in the UK, a ‘walk-in, walk-out’, contactless experience – receiving much media attention and demonstrating a leap forward in terms of technology for the industry. More in Ariño’s remit sits Amazon’s work with the UK government and specific departments to create a positive national impact. In 2021, Amazon announced it would be creating 10,000 new permanent roles in Amazon UK and investing £10 million in its pioneering Career Choice training programme. In June 2021, Amazon partnered with the Department for International Trade to support training to help small businesses export online, whether or not they sell through Amazon. Ariño has previously served in such high-profile roles as international director at Ofcom and director of regulatory affairs at BT. She is currently a board member of the International Institute for Communications providing strategic advice to the IIC, an independent platform of communications policy makers, industry and regulators with global membership and reach. Ariño is also a former vice-chair of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities – a network of over 50 regulators responsible for ensuring good governance and representing EPRA in dealings with a variety of stakeholders.
