Dyson founder ploughs £1.5bn into product invention and new campus
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Version 0 of 1. Sir James Dyson is to invest a further £1.5bn into research and development to create future products, including funding for a campus at the Dyson UK headquarters in Malmesbury which will create up to 3,000 jobs. On top of that he will donate £50m for an external research programme with British universities and £200m to expand on an anticipated surge in manufacturing in south-east Asia. The company invests a third of its profits into research and development and employs 2,000 engineers, of whom half are based in the UK. It plans to launch 100 new electrical products over the next four years. The founder and eponymous inventor said: “Our growth is fuelled by technology and we are thinking long term – 90% of our technology is sold abroad, we’re quickly growing across Asia, and it’s phenomenal to think that we are now number one in the home of technology – Japan. It is like selling coal to Newcastle. But we must relentlessly invent – that’s why we are investing in our research footprint here in the UK and investing in our manufacturing capabilities in south-east Asia.” In 2013, the company became the market leader – by value – in Japanese floor cleaners. It is also market leader in Taiwan and Hong Kong and growth in China is strong. The prime minister, David Cameron, said: “Dyson is a great British success story and the expansion of the Malmesbury campus will create thousands of new jobs, providing a real boost to the local economy and financial security for more hardworking families. Investment on this scale shows confidence in our long-term economic plan to back business, create more jobs and secure a brighter future for Britain.” |