Dyson unveils plans for £100m Bristol technology hub

Household appliances giant Dyson plans to invest £100m in a new research and development hub in central Bristol.

The company said its new base would be situated in a redeveloped building near Bristol Bridge, overlooking Castle Park in the city centre, and would be home to hundreds of software and artificial intelligence (AI) engineers.

The company is still going through the process of applying for planning permission to convert the building’s use.

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 company’s UK headquarters are located in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, but industry insiders told the BBC that the firm was struggling to tempt software and AI engineers to the site.

Dyson already has an office in Bristol with about 100 tech specialists.