Businessman Sir James Dyson saw his salary slashed last year as profits slid at his technology firm, it emerged yesterday.

The multi-millionaire inventor's £457,000 pay packet for 2008 pales in comparison with the £12.5 million he took for the previous year.

Sir James, who became a household name after launching his bagless vacuum, lives in Dodington Park, a Georgian mansion near Chipping Sodbury he bought for £15m in 2003.

He took the steep pay cut as pre-tax profits at his company fell four per cent to £85.3m in the 12 months to December 31 as the recession took its toll.

Turnover grew 2.8 per cent to £628m in the period, while research and development spending was six per cent lower at £49m.

But Sir James, named as the Conservatives' technology tsar, said research was the firm's "life blood" and would continue.

During the year the firm launched a new vacuum that steers on a ball instead of wheels. The firm said it became the UK's bestselling vacuum within a month.

Another creation is the Air Multiplier fan which operates without blades or a grille.

Dyson, which has its design base in Malmesbury in Wiltshire, also increased the spread of its Airblade hand dryers to 19 countries.

"By investing in long-term research and development, we've been able to keep launching new technologies," Sir James said.

"Ball technology has changed the way people vacuum, Airblade has rendered conventional dryers obsolete – and our new Air Multiplier fan stands to do the same to bladed fans."

Dyson said it anticipated its new fan would be distributed across the UK, US, Japan and Australia soon.

It forecast steady sales in its core markets despite the downturn.

The firm, which said it had boosted the number of engineers it employs globally to 500, plans to continue expanding into new markets including South America.