BAGLESS vacuum cleaner inventor Sir James Dyson has announced plans to double the size of his company’s UK engineering team.

Dyson will be targeting university graduates in design, mechanical and acoustic engineering as he bids to expand the division from 350 to 700 staff. The company has quadrupled its research and development spending since 2005, a move which has led to the launch of products such as the Airblade hand-dryer.

Sir Dyson said: “It is vital that Dyson – and the UK – continues to invest in the nation’s engineering talent if we are to stay ahead.

“With excellent young aspiring scientists and engineers in our schools it falls to companies such as Dyson to encourage this future generation.”

Dyson’s laboratories are based in Wiltshire and already boast expertise in microbiology, plus fluid, electrical, thermal, acoustic and software engineering.

It exports products to 49 countries and employs more than 2,500 people around the world. The proposed increases in staff will boost UK numbers to 1,600.

Sir Dyson came up with the idea of using a process called cyclonic separation to maintain suction in vacuum cleaners during the 70s, and eventually developed one of the world’s most popular vacuum models.

He was recently asked by the Conservative party to investigate how Britain could become a “leading hi-tech exporter”. His subsequent “Dyson Report” encouraged the foundation of university-business research and development institutes, provision of more stable access to investment for research councils and greater focus on science, technology, maths and engineering in schools.

According to the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List, the fortune of Sir Dyson and family rose by 64% to £920m, compared to £560m the previous year. The family is placed at number 61 in the national list, which is headed by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. Mr Mittal’s fortune is listed at £22.45bn.

Source: NEBusiness; 25th April 2010