Dyson goes abroad again with new Singapore factory and Philippines tech centre

DYSON will open a new battery factory in Singapore while investing in technology centres for Bristol and Santo Tomas (Philippines).

Although the Singapore outlay will be “significantly larger”, the UK and Philippines investments involve a respective £100 million (€113.4 million) and £166 million (€118.2 million).

This latest announcement confirms billionaire Sir James Dyson’s policy of basing manufacturing operations outside Britain while retaining research and development functions in the UK.

These includes research and robotics facilities in Malmesbury and Hullavington in Wiltshire.

James Dyson, habitually linked by the public to vacuum cleaners, was a prominent Brexit supporter, maintaining that the UK stood to gain more by leaving Europe than it would lose.

Inevitably, he faced strong criticism in 2019 for relocating the company’s headquarters to Singapore, where it already owned factories.

The new Singapore plant will be its biggest ever investment in “advanced manufacturing”, Dyson said.  Meanwhile, the Philippines technology centre, which will engage 400 new engineers, will double the amount of factory space devoted to advanced technologies.

The Bristol site would hire more software, AI and connectivity engineers, revealed Jake Dyson, the founder’s son and chief engineer.

The Singapore plant will produce batteries using proprietary new technology but Dyson preferred not to give more details, citing “commercial sensitivities.” Nevertheless, it appears that the company believes that it can make smaller, lighter and more energy-dense batteries to power its gadgets.

Battery technology development played a key part in Dyson’s plans to manufacture an electric car, which were later discarded owing to the immense cost.