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The lights are set, the camera is ready, and we’re waiting for James Dyson. Not in a ‘primo uomo’ moment, as you might expect of a household name, but rather because he is buried deep in the testing department at Dyson HQ, located on the edge of the Cotswolds. Suddenly there is a fl urry of activity and Dyson emerges, twinkly eyed and apologetic, ready to oblige the photographer waiting outside, removing his jacket and braving the frost of this crisp late autumn morning.

Shots snapped, we head to Dyson’s office, a working space, complete with drawing board and a line-up of almost every dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner he has put his name on. With a philanthropic fund – the James Dyson Foundation – an estimated personal fortune of £1.6bn and five grandchildren who can clearly occupy much of his time, most agreeably, it might be tempting for Dyson to put down his pencil and let the business run itself under the acumen of chief executive, Martin McCourt.

Appointed in 1997 and recent recipient of the Orange Leader of the Year award at the National Business Awards, McCourt is largely credited with (Continued on page 19...)

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