British billionaire James Dyson changes main address back to the UK, 2 years after relocating to Singapore
Founder of the Dyson company, designer James Dyson, poses during a photo session at a hotel in Paris on Oct 11, 2018. (Photo: AFP/Christophe Archambault)
SINGAPORE: British billionaire James Dyson has changed his main address back to the United Kingdom, about two years after he relocated to Singapore, company filings in the UK showed.
According to filings dated Apr 6 for Weybourne, Mr Dyson’s family office, he is now "usually resident" in the United Kingdom. Another filing for Weybourne on May 8, 2019, showed his main address as Singapore.
In 2019, Dyson's then chief executive Jim Rowan told CNA it would be moving its global headquarters to St James Power Station in Singapore.
When asked on Thursday (Apr 22) if Mr Dyson's move changed the company's commitment to Singapore, a spokesperson said that "nothing has changed".
"Singapore is, and remains, the global headquarters of Dyson, our leadership team is based here and it is the centre of our sales, engineering and manufacturing operations," the spokesperson added.
"We continue to expand our investments in Singapore and look forward to moving into St James Power Station as soon as renovations are complete."
The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that Mr Dyson continues to split his time between Singapore and the UK.
READ: Dyson to invest US$3.7b in Singapore, Philippines and UK; plans to double product range
DYSON IN SINGAPORE
Mr Dyson reportedly sold his three-storey penthouse in Singapore in October last year for S$62 million, at a 16 per cent loss. A spokesperson said then that Mr Dyson would continue to maintain a home in Singapore.
The company announced earlier this month plans to hire 250 more engineers and scientists in Singapore over the next five years, as it pushes deeper into areas such as robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
READ: Dyson plans to hire 250 more engineers and scientists in Singapore over next 5 years
The firm also said it will “shortly” move into St James Power Station and will also establish a new global cybersecurity centre.
VENTILATOR CONTROVERSY
According to The Telegraph, it emerged on Wednesday that after agreeing to make ventilators for the UK during the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, Mr Dyson sent text messages to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking him to alter tax rules.
He wanted assurance that his employees based abroad would not pay extra tax if they came to the UK to help make ventilators, Bloomberg reported.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said on Wednesday that the prime minister had not broken any rules as he had informed officials about the exchange promptly.
"I make absolutely no apology at all ... for shifting heaven and earth and doing everything I possibly could ... to secure ventilators for the people of this country and to save lives," Mr Johnson told the UK parliament on Wednesday.
