Huge yellow robots glide across a warehouse floor, guided by QR codes. Moving with an unerring purpose, the cuboid-shaped machines – each stacked with shelves full of products – deliver everything from masquerade masks to Xbox consoles to staff members waiting nearby.

The packages are picked, scanned and placed into black boxes. These boxes then travel along conveyor belts to the floor below, where each item is packed and prepared for shipping.

I am watching the process unfold at Amazon’s new fulfilment centre near Hull, where staff – and their robots – are gearing up for one of the busiest shopping days of the year: Black Friday.

The 11-week-old warehouse, just outside the village of North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, is the size of 11 football pitches and cost £550m to build and equip.

It employs 2,000 staff, most of whom are busy picking, packing and shipping Black Friday orders.

According to Barclays, shoppers in the UK are expected to spend about £10.2bn on Black Friday and at the weekend, an average of £430 each.

“It’s really a fun, exciting time,” says David Benfell, general manager at the Amazon warehouse. “Obviously people are working hard to deliver for customers but we try and create as much fun as possible.”

As I walk on to the warehouse floor, it is busy with staff in hi-vis orange vests operating machines, pushing trolleys and packing items.

Machines are beeping and the conveyer belts above my head are whirring as they transport parcels to their next stop. It is loud enough for employees to have to yell to hear each other speak.

But, despite the overwhelming noise, the atmosphere does not portray the hectic energy you might think it would ahead of one of Amazon’s busiest days of the year.

Instead, it is all rather controlled and organised.

Perhaps this is partly due to the large robotic machines driving the picking and packing process.

On the second floor of the warehouse, behind a caged area are large yellow robotic shelves.

David says very few people are allowed in this caged robotics area because it requires a lot of training – though he describes the operation as being “almost bulletproof”.

The shelves move smoothly along the floor to deliver products to employees called stowers, who put items in pods.

Once the items are stowed, they are ready to be purchased on the Amazon website.

When the customer clicks “buy”, the items are dropped into pick packs. The robotic system will then deliver them to employees to be picked and passed on to be packed.

Grace Rutter, who manages the “singles” area – where orders of single items are dealt with – is in charge of what happens next.

The products go down the line to Grace’s team, before being packed into a box, bag or envelope. They then move on to shipping.

Grace, originally from Leeds, took on the role when the site opened in June. She leads a team of about 55 employees.

The 26-year-old has been working for Amazon for five years and the role is a far cry from her previous job.

“I’ve actually got a dance and musical theatre degree, so that was kind of like the background, and as part of that we did learn some circus skills, so I can breath fire,” she says.

But in some ways, fire-breathing prepared her for her busy management role.

“It’s a similar ball game with the amount of people that have always got their eyes on you,” she says.

“Especially managing a team, I stand at the front and I’ve got 55 associates looking at me, waiting to answer my questions or whatever they need.

“[It’s] definitely different in terms of safety,” Grace adds.

When it comes to Black Friday, her days look the same as usual, but are a lot busier.

“I would say it’s very much the same day-to-day tasks, just more of them. More associates to manage, more parcels,” she says.

Such a massive, high-tech operation has not been welcomed by all.

The warehouse has faced significant opposition from residents of nearby villages.

When the plans were first announced in 2020, they attracted more than 1,300 objections, including concerns over the number of lorries using local roads and the impact on the environment.

Proposals for illuminated signs at the site attracted further opposition and they were eventually thrown out in August.

Those who supported the plans pointed to the prospect of Amazon bringing hundreds of jobs to the area. The firm says it now puts on buses for workers travelling in from the city of Hull.

Meanwhile, in the battle for Christmas sales, independent retailers have urged shoppers to support local businesses, rather than online giants.

Earlier this month, the town of Ballymena, Northern Ireland, organised its own version of Black Friday to champion its high street stores and “take on the big guns”.

Back at the North Ferriby site, Amazon says the 11-week-old warehouse is running at 100% capacity.

General manager David, 48, has been working for the company for nine years and describes the run up to Black Friday and Christmas as a “super exciting time”.

He insists staff are “not working any harder”.

“We just increase our capacity through additional hires to help support through this Christmas period,” he says.

“We’re having a Christmas market where we’re going to get Ferris wheels, reindeer, all outside in the car park where people can bring their families in.

“Obviously people are working hard to deliver for customers but we try and create as much fun as possible.”