Dyson today announced a plan to cut 1,000 British jobs as part of a brutal global workforce review in a move that will spark fresh anger at its billionaire founder.
Cuts at the vacuum and air appliances manufacturer, founded by Norfolk-born inventor Sir James Dyson, equate to almost a third of its 3,500-strong UK workforce.
Sir James was one of the most vocal business voices backing Brexit, but provoked a furious backlash when he moved the firm’s headquarters from the UK to Singapore in 2019 – three years after the referendum.
He was critical of the last Conservative government’s growth plans and last year criticised Rishi Sunak‘s ‘woeful’ science and technology policies, while accusing him of refusing to meet entrepreneurs.
The 77-year-old has also criticised Labour’s economic policies, but it is understood today’s announcement has nothing to do with the party winning a general election landslide.
Cuts at the vacuum and air appliances manufacturer, founded by Norfolk-born inventor Sir James Dyson, equate to almost a third of its 3,500-strong UK workforce
Sir James on a visit to Downing Street earlier this year in which he was said to have had a combative discussion with then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt
The company has offices in Wiltshire, London and Bristol, and staff were told about the latest developments in an email this morning.
Chief executive, Hanno Kirner, said the ‘painful’ redundancies had been decided following a review of worldwide operations commissioned earlier this year.
He said in a company statement: ‘We have grown quickly and, like all companies, we review our global structures from time to time to ensure we are prepared for the future.
‘As such, we are proposing changes to our organisation, which may result in redundancies.
‘Dyson operates in increasingly fierce and competitive global markets, in which the pace of innovation and change is only accelerating.
‘We know we always need to be entrepreneurial and agile – principles that are not new to Dyson.
‘Decisions which impact close and talented colleagues are always incredibly painful.
‘Those whose roles are at risk of redundancy as a result of the proposals will be supported through the process.’
It is understood that the review was launched before the General Election was called by outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in May, and does not relate to policies laid out by Sir Keir Starmer’s new government.
The group’s commitment to the UK as a major base for research and development is not thought to be affected by the job cuts, while the
Institute – which provides undergraduate engineering programmes – will continue to be based at the Malmesbury site in Wiltshire.
Sir James has been outspoken about the Conservative government’s policies.
He previously hit out at the Tories for taking a ‘short-sighted’ and ‘stupid’ economic approach, with too much red tape and high taxes.
In January 2023, the tycoon said Britain was stuck in a state of ‘Covid inertia’ that was holding the economy back.
Sir James, who has an estimated net worth of £23billion, accused the Tory government of ‘interfering’ and ‘penalising the private sector’.
He also complained that the failure to get workers back to the office after the pandemic has ‘badly damaged the country’s self-belief and work ethic’.
The entrepreneur was critical of Rishi Sunak’s economic policies
Sir James modelling a hair dryer in April 2016 – one of a number of products his British firm has produced
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Sir James said: ‘The Government seems intent on moving in the opposite direction with the introduction of suffocating regulation, greater interference with business, and thinking it can impose tax upon tax on companies in the belief that penalising the private sector is a free win at the ballot box.’
He warned: ‘This is as short-sighted as it is stupid. In the global economy, companies will simply choose to transfer jobs and invest elsewhere.
‘Our country has an illustrious history of enterprise and innovation, born of a culture which we are in the process of extinguishing.’
The entrepreneur also praised the aggressive, tax-cutting economic policies of former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and former prime minister Liz Truss.
The pair’s disastrous mini Budget resulted in both senior politicians ultimately losing their jobs weeks after entering office.
‘I’m disappointed we’re not going for growth,’ he said this year.
‘I was hopeful (with Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng). I thought they were doing the right thing – I’m the only one who did.
‘Kwarteng wasn’t raising taxes. He was going for growth, which I think is the right thing. It allows us to pay for things and generates wealth.’
Sir James is said to have had a ‘fiery’ meeting earlier this year with former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who reportedly told the entrepreneur: ‘If you think you could do a better job, why don’t you stand for election?’
The businessman was knighted in 2007 for services to business.
He received fierce criticism in 2019 after announcing the firm’s global headquarters were moving to Singapore from the UK, but defended the move, saying: ‘It would be arrogant to think that we could design and develop products for Asia and Britain.
‘We can develop technology, but understanding what Asians want and what works in the market – we have to be there, we have to be immersed in it.
‘I can’t make things here and bring over all the components from the Far East here, assemble them here and then send them back to the Far East. That just doesn’t work.’
The Dyson vacuum cleaner factory in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, remains one of the firm’s three British sites, where Sir James is pictured in 2002
Sir Dyson also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to Britain.
In an interview three years ago, as the UK emerged from the Covid pandemic, he said: ‘We’re a British company – I’ve put a lot into this country.
‘I’ve invested about £2 billion on this site’, he said. ‘I’m taking on more people, I employ 4,000 people here, I pay a large amount of tax here.’
Dyson, which was founded in 1991, played a key role during the pandemic, working with scientists and Cambridge-based Technology Partnership, to produce 10,000 ventilators for hospitals across the country.
It announced shortly after Covid hit that it would cut 600 jobs in the UK and 300 more in rest of the world due to the impact of the virus.
The company, which employs 14,000 people globally, said impacted staff were in retail and customer service roles, adding it was working to redeploy people to alternative jobs where possible.