Dyson to relocate head office from Britain to Singapore
Growing tech adoption in region one of key factors
British home appliance manufacturer Dyson will transfer its head office's registration to Singapore, a decision that comes months after it said it will set up its first electric car plant here.
This means Dyson - famed bladeless fans - will become a Singapore-based business and primarily be regulated by the law here.
"What we've seen in the last few years is an acceleration of the opportunities to grow a company from a revenue perspective in Asia," Dyson chief executive Jim Rowan said in a press conference yesterday.
"All of our manufacturing and a majority of our future investments will be in Asia."
He noted countries in the region such as China have grown at a rapid pace to the size of mature markets like the US and Japan. Tech adoption in places such as India and South-east Asia is expected to accelerate in the coming years as well.
This is among reasons that Dyson's chief financial officer and chief legal officer will relocate to Singapore "very shortly" and its team built up here.
Mr Rowan said the decision did not have anything to do with Brexit or tax benefits, adding it is for the company to be in the best position to "secure opportunities". Mr Rowan is based in Singapore as well.
He said Brexit is unlikely to impact Dyson given that its supply chain is based in South-east Asia. He also said Singapore's corporate tax rate of 17 per cent - lower than Britain's - would mean only a "negligible" difference in what would be paid.
Mr Rowan stressed that the move to relocate to Singapore was an "evolutionary decision" due to the changing landscape.
Dyson's "centre of gravity" has been shifting towards Asia, which in 2017 generated almost 75 per cent of its revenue growth.
It already employs 1,100 people here and plans to double the size of its research and operations. Its Singapore Technology Centre at Science Park One will double in size as well.
The company has about 430 people working on the electric car and expects this to grow.
Its Singapore manufacturing facility is part of Dyson's £2 billion (S$3.5 billion) move into automobiles. Singapore's expertise in advanced manufacturing was among the factors that made it an "ideal location" to build the Dyson car, said the company.
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