Pro-Brexit campaigner James Dyson to move HQ to Singapore
January 22, 2019
UK billionaire and Brexit campaigner James Dyson announced on Tuesday that he is moving the headquarters of his company, famous for its cordless vacuum cleaners, to Singapore. Dyson insisted that the move had nothing to do with the UK's exit from the European Union.
"An increasing majority of Dyson's customers and all of our manufacturing operations are now in Asia; this shift has been occurring for some time and will quicken as Dyson brings its electrical vehicle to market," the company said in a statement.
"As a result, an increasing proportion of Dyson's executive team is going to be based in Singapore; positioning them to make the right decisions for Dyson in a quick and efficient way."
Dyson opened a new facility for manufacturing electric cars in Singapore last year, sparking criticism for not investing more in the UK as it faced Brexit-related financial woes. A prototype of the vehicle is expected to arrive in 2020.
The company is currently headquartered in Malmesbury in Wiltshire in the southwest of England. Dyson said it was still dedicated to its planned research center in the nearby village of Hullavington. It said that the move would not involve any job losses in the UK, save for two senior executives relocating to Singapore.
Many large companies have shifted parts of their operations away from the UK in the run-up to Brexit, including the hedge fund of pro-Leave conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, which is setting up offices in Ireland and advertises that it's prepared to cope with any Brexit eventuality. Barclays Bank and Deutsche Bank have also set up offices in Dublin, with the German lender expected to relocate some operations to Frankfurt.
es/msh (AFP, Reuters)