Do we like Dyson?
Makes vacuums, hair tools, purifiers and robot vacuums; founded in England, global HQ in Singapore.
Our score: 4 out of 10. Well-engineered products, but a forced-labour case over its Malaysian suppliers ended in a settlement and it cut about 1,000 UK jobs. We'd hold back until we see more on supply chains.
Dyson was founded in 1991 by Sir James Dyson, and it's still owned by him and his family. Its home base is now Singapore, which it moved to in 2019. Its main research and design work is still in Wiltshire, UK. Hanno Kirner, ex-Jaguar Land Rover, took over as CEO in February 2024.
The big drama is the Malaysian workers' case. 24 workers from Nepal and Bangladesh sued in 2022. They said they were threatened and beaten, had passports withheld and worked long hours at factories making Dyson parts. Dyson said it didn't know about the abuses and denied liability. The UK courts let the case be heard in England.
With a trial due in 2027, Dyson settled instead. The BBC reported that the terms are secret. Dyson and the workers' lawyers Leigh Day both said it wasn't an admission of liability. So it's an accusation never tested at trial, but a worrying one for a company that sells itself on engineering care.
At home, Dyson announced in July 2024 that it would cut about 1,000 UK jobs, around a quarter of its UK staff. CBS News reported that the CEO blamed fierce competition. Bloomberg reported that the family holding company then received a £750m dividend last year, up from £200m the year before. It's a fair question whether that sits well with the job cuts.
The good bits: it keeps inventing, with new robot vacuums, purifiers and a toothbrush shown in Berlin in September 2026. It's also expanding in-store repairs and diagnostics. We'd say it's a decent maker with a real supply-chain question hanging over it. That's why we've landed on 4 out of 10.