Dyson has announced plans for a new £100m technology centre in Bristol.
The household appliances giant said its new base will be situated in a redeveloped building near Bristol Bridge, overlooking Castle Park in the city centre.
The company - known for its vacuum cleaners and fans - said the facility, at number one Georges Square in Redcliffe, would house “hundreds” of software and AI engineers working on a 10-year pipeline of products and apps, as well as the global tech firm’s commercial and e-commerce teams for Great Britain and Ireland.
The firm said its new commitment to Bristol, where it already has an office near the cathedral, reflected its position as “an international hub for software and digital skills” and would drive recruitment of UK-based and global talent.
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Chief engineer Jake Dyson, son of the company’s founder Sir James Dyson, said: “To us, sensors, apps, and connectivity are about more than simply adding function to the machine. They transform how we support our owners and assess autonomously how to improve a product’s performance over its lifetime to ensure they are at peak performance.
“We have significant ambitions and will hire increasing numbers of software, AI and connectivity engineers as part of a growing global team. The new Dyson Technology Centre in Bristol will be a vital hub contributing to Dyson’s connected future.”
The move follows Dyson announcing last year that it would invest in transforming former RAF air hangars at its campus at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire into a new research and development facility, where it is developing wearable tech and robotics.
Dyson currently employs around more than 3,500 people in the UK, with its second Wiltshire site in Malmesbury the base for its engineering institute.
As well as the new Bristol facility, Dyson also revealed it would build a new battery plant in Singapore, where the company relocated its global headquarters to last year, and an additional £166m tech hub in the Philippines, where it plans to create 400 new engineering jobs.
Sir James Dyson said: “Software, connectivity, AI, and proprietary new technology batteries will power the next generation of Dyson technology. Just like our long-term investments in pioneering digital electric motor technology, Dyson’s next generation battery technology will drive a major revolution in the performance and sustainability of Dyson’s machines.”
Dyson announced a five-year, £2.75bn investment plan in 2020, with the firm looking to double its product range and enter entirely new fields by 2025.
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