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16/08/2011
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Sir James Dyson has urged the government to do more to support the UK's manufacturing industry, warning that he may have to take his research and development operations abroad if Britain does not produce more engineers.
 His call to encourage government spending and investment in skills echo that of BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, who have also called on the Coalition to step up its efforts to give companies more support by investing in innovation and R&D.
"There are not enough engineers coming out of universities," stated Dyson. "We can't hire people quick enough and it's holding up projects. If they can't get the engineers, British companies will move abroad."
When asked whether the company would move operations overseas if the situation did not improve, Sir James said: "Well yes, we'd have to. It's the last thing we want to do. We are trying to recruit here but in the event we can't get people, we'll have to consider it."
Speaking to The Guardian, Dyson's chief executive Martin McCourt added that he would like to see more evidence of the government's commitment to skilled jobs. "The government has stated that it wants to see significant scaling up of investment in ensuring that science, technology and engineering is encouraged, but we would like to see more evidence of this," he said. "The encouragement has to start in the school system."
Dyson currently manufactures its products in Malaysia, after a controversial move in 2003, but still employs 550 engineers at its R&D centre in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. The company reported an 8% increase in annual profits to £206million last year, on revenues that rose 15% to £770m. Its R&D investment in 2010 totalled £45m.
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Author
Laura Hopperton
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