Dyson has shelved plans for a £100 million technical and analysis centre in Bristol, opting as a substitute to consolidate its southwest operations at its flagship Malmesbury campus in Wiltshire.
The transfer will see the relocation of 180 employees – beforehand earmarked for Bristol’s 1 Georges Sq. – to the corporate’s important website, which additionally homes the Dyson Institute and its engineering diploma programme.
The British know-how agency, greatest identified for its vacuum cleaners and hairdryers, had initially introduced the Bristol hub in 2023. Nonetheless, Invoice Wright, Dyson’s UK HR director, mentioned bringing groups underneath one roof would help the corporate’s collaborative strategy to analysis and innovation. “Because the tempo of innovation and improvement accelerates, we more and more see the advantages that may come from having groups all situated collectively in a single bodily location,” Wright defined.
Whereas it has already invested considerably in refurbishing the Bristol website, Dyson confirmed that 1 Georges Sq. will now be put available on the market for lease. The corporate says it’s going to assist employees commute by introducing a coach service and providing free electrical automobile charging factors to melt the affect of the transfer.
This newest improvement follows Dyson’s world assessment, which final yr triggered an announcement to chop as much as a 3rd of its UK workforce. The choice additionally comes in opposition to a backdrop of founder Sir James Dyson’s outspoken criticisms of the UK’s financial insurance policies – particularly Labour’s current tax proposals and better nationwide insurance coverage prices. In a letter to the Telegraph, he wrote: “Why would anybody begin an organization within the UK? The hit delivered by Labour to enterprise, and the destruction of British family-owned companies particularly, is an egregious act of self-harm.”
Although the corporate stresses that the location closure in Bristol is a enterprise resolution moderately than a political assertion, it underscores a unbroken consolidation technique in Dyson’s world operations. Now headquartered in Singapore, Dyson seems intent on centring its core innovation actions again the place all of it started: on the historic Malmesbury campus in rural Wiltshire.
Jamie Younger
Jamie is Senior Reporter at Enterprise Issues, bringing over a decade of expertise in UK SME enterprise reporting.
Jamie holds a level in Enterprise Administration and often participates in business conferences and workshops.
When not reporting on the most recent enterprise developments, Jamie is obsessed with mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to encourage the following technology of enterprise leaders.
