SINGAPORE, Nov 28 — British technology firm Dyson will be moving its global headquarters to St James Power Station in Singapore in 2021, making it the centre of its worldwide expansion, the company said today.
The 110,000sq ft national monument located in Harbourfront will allow Dyson to double its research and engineering footprint in the country, the company said in a press release.
Dyson will install state-of-the-art research laboratories at its future headquarters, which it said will enable the company to double its pool of highly skilled engineers and scientists in Singapore over the next five years.
The company announced earlier in October the sudden cancellation of its electric car project in Singapore. That cancellation came barely a year after Dyson had announced in 2018 that it would launch the ambitious automotive project.
St James Power Station was built in 1927 as Singapore’s first coal-fired power plant. It was decommissioned in 1976 and served as a warehouse for PSA from 1980 to 1992.
In 2006, it was turned into one of Singapore’s largest entertainment complexes before it was returned to its landlord, Mapletree, on Sept 1, 2018, after its lease expired.
Jim Rowan, Dyson’s chief executive officer, said in the press release that the historic St James Power Station will be a “most inspiring backdrop” for the company’s employees.
“It will be a hive for our research and development endeavours, as we focus on great technology breakthroughs,” he said.
“I’m very confident that the ingenuity of our engineers and scientists here in Singapore — and the many more who will join them — will continue to drive Dyson forward all around the globe.”
Dyson, famous for making vacuum cleaners, has been in Singapore for more than a decade, employing 1,200 people — 350 of whom are engineers and scientists.
Earlier this year, the privately-owned firm said that it was moving its corporate office and tax registration to Singapore from Britain to be closer to its fastest-growing markets.
Tan Kong Hwee, the assistant managing director of the Economic Development Board, said that the planned doubling of Dyson’s research and development team, and the establishment of Dyson at St James Power Station demonstrate the company’s long-term commitment to Singapore.
“The expansion is also a testament to the quality of the engineering workforce here, and will create exciting opportunities in technology areas such as power electronics, energy storage, sensors, vision systems, embedded software, robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and connected devices,” he said. — TODAY
