Amazon is to create more than 2,500 jobs in the UK this year, including 650 head office roles, as the online retailer says it remains committed to expanding in Brexit Britain.

The company is looking for speech science and machine learning experts to help it develop its smart speakers and Alexa personal assistant

“The UK is a fantastic place to do business,” Doug Gurr, the company’s UK and Ireland boss, said. “We are trying to make sure all the businesses that work with us can continue to operate effectively … We don’t yet know exactly what the rules [on trading after Brexit] are going to be. We will wait and see what happens and adapt as necessary,” Gurr said.

He said the UK was important both as a consumer market and as a source of talent that could contribute to the growth of Amazon, which expects to employ 27,500 people in the UK by the end of the year, up from about 24,000 at the end of last year.

The firm is building several more warehouses and also wants to expand its head office and fashion photography studio in London, as well as development centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh and the capital.

Amazon is facing legal action in relation to employment rights of delivery drivers while it has been criticised as recently as last week over conditions for workers in its warehouses.

But Gurr said he was “proud of working conditions across all parts of our business”. He said Amazon ran public tours of its warehouses and people should check out the facilities for themselves.

He said Amazon had now invested more than £9.3bn in the UK since 2010, nearly £3bn of which has been ploughed into operations since last year as the company expands its food and fashion businesses, while also developing new technology such as drones and personalisation software.

Amazon’s Fresh food delivery service now serves just over 300 postcodes, up from 62 18 months ago.

However, he declined to comment on future plans or whether he was interested in buying a supermarket chain such as Waitrose to help expand the business.