Eight hundred jobs to go at Dyson (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Eight hundred jobs to go at Dyson

EIGHT hundred workers will lose their jobs at vacuum giant Dyson after the company announced plans to move its production to the Far East.

Staff at the Malmesbury headquarters were told of the plans on Tuesday morning.

Dyson plans to move its vacuum cleaner manufacturing to the Far East with the loss of 800 employees from manufacturing and other areas of the Malmesbury-based operation.

The jobs will be phased out from the end of May to November.

Research and development, including the Dyson washing machines, will stay in Malmesbury, leaving about 1,000 employees at the site.

Two years ago the company set up a production factory in Malaysia.

Bosses say since then demand for products has grown and it is no longer cost effective to make the products in the UK.

During a 15-minute press conference on Tuesday James Dyson told journalists it was a sad day at the Malmesbury site.

But he was accused by a union leader of 'betrayal'.

Mr Dyson told the press conference: "This is a sad day and a very difficult one. We have spent the last six years building up production here at Malmesbury. I invested a great deal of money in this site and I wanted to make it work.

"The sad commercial reality is we have to go where it's much cheaper and more appropriate to make our products so we can continue to invest in new products and new technology.

"By moving it to the Far East where many suppliers are based and where production is more cost effective we would be able to continue to grow, invest heavily in new technologies and launch more products faster.

"This new production capacity will mean that Dyson can continue to supply current international markets as well as meet demand from the US market. Research and development, the heart and soul of Dyson, will remain in Malmesbury.

"This is critical to our future and we must increase this to continue developing new technology products."

Mr Dyson said an employee consultation committee will be elected to discuss support packages for workers who will be losing their jobs.

He added: "If it goes ahead this will be a blow to all those who have put in so much effort. "We will treat people who have been loyal to us decently and do our best to help people find new jobs."

But the news prompted angry reaction from trade union Amicus.

General secretary Roger Lyons said: "Dyson has betrayed the 800 people whose jobs are being shipped out and hundreds more jobs from supply chain companies.

"It is not good enough that the first his employees and customers knew of the cuts was as he waved them goodbye from the steps of a plane taking jobs to Malaysia."

Mr Lyons called on the Department of Trade and Industry to intervene to try and save jobs. Trade and Industry minister Brian Wilson declared the announcement as 'very disappointing' and said the DTI had no advance warning of the announcement.

Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate on the loss of jobs in the manufacturing industry, he said: "I do believe that there must be room for discussion and I do hope that there are more factors to the calculations of Dyson than the pretty obvious statement of fact that labour is cheaper in Malaysia than it is in Malmesbury."

Earlier in the debate, James Gray MP said the announcement had created a 'very severe crisis' and called for greater focus from Government on the manufacturing sector.

caption: James Dyson announces the job cuts