British vacuum cleaner maker Dyson said Thursday it was cutting 15 percent of its UK workforce and eliminating 900 jobs globally because of the coronavirus outbreak. The company founded by entrepreneur James Dyson, who in May headed The Sunday Times ranking of richest Britons with a fortune of £16.2 billion ($20.7 billion, 17.8 billion euros), has 4,000 workers in the UK and 14,000 worldwide. It said it was eliminating 600 jobs in Britain and 300 elsewhere because lockdowns imposed by the virus were changing consumer behaviour. Dyson makes a range of household supply items but is best known from its bag-less vacuum cleaners. "The COVID19 crisis has accelerated changes in consumer behaviour and therefore requires changes in how we engage with our customers and how we sell our products," a company spokesman said. zak/phz/jh