James Dyson's farming company records fall in profits

Beside vacuum cleaners, James Dyson also owns a farming business sprawling 35,000 acres across three counties
Beside vacuum cleaners, James Dyson also owns a farming business sprawling 35,000 acres across three counties

James Dyson's farming company has recorded a fall in profits after the business was hindered by extreme weather conditions.

Accounts for Beeswax Dyson Farming Ltd have been published for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Turnover was £30.2m last year, an increase from £28.3m in 2019, while pre-tax profit was £2.2m, a fall from £3.4m.

Farming continues to be the main principal activity for the business, which comprises 35,000 acres of land throughout Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

But the company said: “Exposure to the extreme weather conditions during the year has reduced potential incomes and added costs.

“Cropping is being developed to include higher value crops and potential opportunities being investigated to sell direct to the consumer increasing margin."

The business also looks to energy for diversified income and turnover from this source 'reached a mature state in 2020'.

“The development of a glasshouse linked to the anaerobic digestion plant completed in 2020 will further diversify revenues in 2021," the firm added.

Dyson is the fourth wealthiest person in the UK, with a net worth of £16.3bn. Last year, he topped the Sunday Times Rich List for the first time.

A staunch Brexiteer, he said in 2016 leaving the EU would 'liberate' the British economy and allow trade deals to be struck around the world.

However, the vacuum cleaner inventor has also been critical of the Conservative government's direction.

In 2017, he criticised then-Defra Secretary Michael Gove's 'Green Brexit' approach to the farming industry after the UK leaves the EU.

He said small UK farming businesses may be at a disadvantage to their European counterparts under the plans.