Dyson moves head office to Singapore

Janice Heng
Published Tue, Jan 22, 2019 · 04:00 PM
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DYSON is moving its corporate head office to Singapore "to reflect the increasing importance of Asia" to its business, the British home electronics maker said on Tuesday night, accompanying the release of its financial results for 2018. Its plans for 2019 also include a doubling of its Singapore Technology Centre and increased investment in neighbouring Malaysia.

Said Dyson chief executive officer Jim Rowan: "In 2018, Dyson made its largest investment in the UK while driving its technology investments around the world, particularly in Singapore, responding to soaring demand for Dyson products across Asia."

In its results release, Dyson said that a growing majority of its customers - as well as all its manufacturing operations - are now in Asia, in a shift that "has been occurring for some time, and will quicken as Dyson brings its electric vehicle to market".

"As a result, an increasing proportion of Dyson's executive team is going to be based in Singapore," said Dyson, adding that this does not change any of its investment and recruitment plans.

Dyson's upcoming electric car will be manufactured in Singapore. In April, former president of Infiniti Motor Company and senior vice-president of Nissan Motor Roland Krueger will join Dyson, based in Singapore, "to oversee all aspects of the automotive project as it approaches launch".

In 2018, Dyson's profit grew 33 per cent to £1.1 billion (S$1.9 billion), breaking the £1 billion mark for the first time. Turnover was up 28 per cent at £4.4 billion.

Following the growth of its research and development footprint in the United Kingdom and capabilities in Singapore, Malaysia, China and the Philippines in 2018, Dyson said, investments will continue to grow across all its centres in 2019. "We will expand the top secret development labs in the UK, increase our upstream research programmes, and continue to grow our automotive team. Our Singapore Technology Centre will double in size as we crystallise our investments there, and the Malaysia Design Centre goes into its next phase of development."

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