Leave-supporting entrepreneur Sir James Dyson has exploded claims his decision to move two executives to Singapore, far outside the EU, proves he is abandoning Brexit Britain.
The inventor, one of Britain’s leading agriculturalists and manufacturing tycoons, still best known for his innovative bagless vacuum cleaners, prompted howls of indignation from EU loyalists when it was announced he would be “moving” his company to Singapore — in fact, relocating its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer there — who claimed it was proof Leave campaigners were trying to escape the supposed consequences of the Brexit they advocated.
“Though others would love to present it differently, my personal views on Britain’s departure from the European Union didn’t come into our recent decision to move Dyson’s head office,” Sir James hit back in an article for The Telegraph.
“I think Britain has a hugely exciting future once it leaves the European Union and Dyson will continue to invest and grow here,” he added, pointing out that “Malmesbury, Hullavington, London and Bristol, Dyson’s creative and engineering centres, are growing not shrinking and our focus is unashamedly on the future.”
Sir James insisted that Dyson expanding its operations abroad, where it generates the vast majority of its sales, would be no detriment to its British operations — “quite the opposite.”
“Success abroad means we can invest more here, as we’re doing, with new money going into research and development, building new campuses, educating a future generation, and creating new jobs,” he argued.
“In 2016 we bought Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire. We have since restored it to be a world-class vehicle testing and prototyping campus, employing hundreds of people,” he pointed out.
“Every pound of investment and employment we spend in Britain is a vote of confidence in Britain. We have built, from scratch, the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, a new university where the undergraduates are paid,” he added.
“The future is incredibly exciting, I accept that I may be ambitious to get there faster than some, but please don’t take it the wrong way: these are not the actions of a hypocrite but someone wanting to invest more in the UK post-Brexit, not less.”
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