Dubai: British technology company Dyson has high hopes in the Middle East after securing a strong foothold in the US and Japan.

The company designs and manufacturers vacuum cleaners, air multiplier fans and heaters, airblade hand dryers.

“We have high ambitions. We are growing in Europe — amidst tough trading conditions — after securing a strong foothold in the US and Japan. Over the past few years we’ve seen great results in the Middle East,” Max Conze, CEO of Dyson, told Gulf News in an exclusive interview.

He said Dyson is highly valued but there is more we can do to get our technology into people’s hands. In fact, we’re looking to open our first-ever concept store at Dubai Mall by end of the year.

It has always been an ambition of ours to have our own “Dyson store.” Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Paris are all cities we have considered. But Dubai is a gateway to North Africa and Asia. It presents the right mix of opportunities for us.

He said people all over the world value quality. They are prepared to pay a little bit more for something that will do the job.

“We invest Dh8.8 million on research, design and development every week because we want our machines to be the best they can be. If something isn’t right, we’ll go back to the drawing board. It means our machines a cut above the rest,” Conze said.

The company invested 36 per cent of last year’s after tax profits into research and development.

“Our Digital Slim cordless vacuum cleaners have been particularly popular, not only in the Middle East, but across Europe, US and Japan. We’ve been in the Middle East for some time now. Not many people know this but Israel was one of our first international markets; we began operating there 15 years ago. Since then, we have launched in Turkey, the UAE, and next up, Saudi Arabia in 2014,” he said.

Dyson has some exciting new technologies in the pipeline. They will be launching more machines, and new categories. But I can’t “reveal anything just yet. It would spoil the surprise,” he said.

“We have been developing Dyson digital motors in the UK for 15 years and we are now harnessing them to make smaller, more efficient machines. Japan, a nation that demands smaller, more efficient technology continues to be one of the fastest growing markets — volumes were up nearly 30 per cent in 2012,” he said.

Dyson will be selling in 65 cities by the end of this year.

“Our ambitions don’t stop at driving growth from new product launches in existing territories. We are constantly scouting out new opportunities. We have just launched in Morocco and we have plans to expand into Saudi Arabia early next year, and there are other territories in the Middle East on the horizon,” he said.

Dyson is constantly investing in research and development, not only growing our range of technology but also the engineering headcount. “We have opened a new £150 million high technology motor manufacturing facility in Singapore — increasing production capacity by 200 per cent. This allows Dyson to meet growing demand for its cordless vacuum cleaners. The advanced motors will be at the heart of our next generation technology,” he said.