Dyson is cutting as many as 1,000 jobs in the UK, around a quarter of its British workforce.

The engineering giant, famed for its vacuum cleaners, hand dryers and hairdryers, has UK operations in Malmesbury and Hullavington in Wiltshire, Bristol and London. It employs around 15,000 people globally.

Hanno Kirner, chief executive, said: “Dyson operates in increasingly fierce and competitive global markets, in which the pace of innovation and change is only accelerating. We know we always need to be entrepreneurial and agile.”

He said that cutting jobs was “always incredibly painful” but that staff affected would be supported through the process.

“We have grown quickly and, like all companies, we review our global structures from time to time to ensure we are prepared for the future,” he added.

The review, which began before the general election was announced in May, is understood to have identified roles at risk of redundancy in all departments.

Employees were informed of the restructure this morning and the group indicated that it was not about moving jobs overseas to cheaper countries.

Sir James Dyson, the company’s founder, was criticised in 2019 for moving Dyson’s headquarters to Singapore after being a vocal supporter of Brexit.

The company’s original headquarters in Malmesbury is expected to continue as its research and development base.

Last year, Sir James described former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s focus on science and technology as “hot air”.

In a letter to The Times he said: “Ministers talk hubristically of Britain becoming a ‘science and technology superpower’ but their woeful policies diminish this to a mere political slogan.

“In the UK, Dyson now faces rocketing corporation tax (wiping out any tax credits for research and development), damaging legislation on working from home — even for those who need to work collaboratively in labs — and a crippling shortage of qualified engineers.”

He had previously described allowing people to work from home as “staggeringly self-defeating”.

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