Vacuum inventor cleans up in the cash stakes

Sir James Dyson’s bagless vacuum has brought him a tidy fortune of over £1 billion.

Sales of his world-renowned product continue to grow and he commands a 46% share of British vacuum sales and 32% of the American market.

An industrial design student at the Royal College of Art, he put his skills to good use spending 15 years perfecting his Dyson - nearly going bankrupt in the process!
 
But it paid off and profits at Dyson James Ltd, the parent company, grew from £78.9m to £103.1m in 2005. He was knighted in the New Year's Honours List and is now planning to encourage others to emulate his success by opening a £25m design school in Bath.

Inspired by Sir James? Read more about production qualifications.

Read all about the only Welshman to make it into this year’s list here.