Sir James Dyson, the billionaire technology investor, has called on the UK government to exclude foreign students from official immigration figures to encourage more overseas engineering, science and maths students to come to – and remain in – Britain.

Optimistic about trade deals

Speaking as his company announced record worldwide sales of £2.5 billion in 2016, with profits up 41 per cent at £631 million, Sir James also played down fears over a 'hard Brexit' and said he was “enormously optimistic” over the UK's opportunities for developing trade with nations outside the EU.On the controversial subject of including students in immigration figures, Sir James, who has previously expressed fears over the shortage of engineers in Britain, said, “We should make maths, science and engineering students that come to stay in this country welcome here. I am very much against targeting them. I think they should be excluded from the immigration targets.”

Brightest students should be allowed to remain

Sir James, who is financing a new engineering and technology university in Wiltshire, said the UK should allow the brightest students to remain in the country after completing their studies, instead of forcing them to return to their home countries unless they can secure a job within four months of graduating.However, a government spokesman said, “We remain committed to attracting the brightest and best students to the UK and there is no limit on the number of students who can come here to study.“In 2016, visa applications for Russell Group universities increased by six per cent showing that our world-leading educational institutions continue to appeal to people from across the world.“As international students, like other migrants, who stay for longer than 12 months in the UK have an impact on communities, infrastructure and services, it is right they are included in the net migration statistics.”

WTO tariffs: 'A tiny penalty to pay'

Sir James also played down fears that, if Britain had to adopt World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariffs if it fails to reach a trade deal with the EU after Brexit, it would be bad news for the UK economy.The tycoon, a supporter of the 'leave' campaign in last year's referendum, said WTO tariffs of between five and ten per cent represented a “tiny penalty to pay” for trading with Europe. The Dyson Corporation already operates under such tariffs because of its manufacturing plant in Singapore, which exports to nations worldwide, including Europe.“They (WTO tariffs) have not held us back at all. It is clearly not a barrier to exporting into Europe,” he said, although he added that he expected a deal with the EU to be reached because reversion to a WTO system would not be in Europe's interest.In an interview with the BBC, Sir James said, “Europe's only 15 per cent of the global market and the really fast-expanding markets are in the Far East. I'm enormously optimistic because looking outwards to the rest of the world is very, very important because that's the fast-growing bit.”

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The company's results showed that sales in China increased by 244 per cent last year, while sales in the UK rose by a third, led by the new Dyson V8 cordless vacuum cleaner and its first hairdryer.With 3,500 engineers and scientists on its payroll, the company's development of a 517-acre campus in Wiltshire is part of a £2.5 billion investment into the development of new battery technologies and robotics.“The size of the campus and the company’s work on batteries, robotics and artificial intelligence, has increased speculation that Dyson is developing a driverless electric car, but Dyson has declined to comment on this,” commented the Guardian.For related news and features, visit our Brexit section.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory  Get access to our free Global Mobility Toolkit

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