Four former employees were treated to a VIP visit to JCB to mark the 60th anniversary of their recruitment as the company’s first ever apprentices.
A total of nine 15-year-old boys started as Craft Apprentices at the Rocester plant in 1964.
And four of them – Chris Carnwell, Nigel Heinich, Mick Higgs, and Keith Hepden – retraced their footsteps to the factory to mark the diamond anniversary of the JCB apprenticeship programme.
They were welcomed by JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, who also started work at JCB in 1964.
The quartet were trailblazers for JCB’s apprenticeship scheme, which currently has around 300 apprentices on scheme and in the last 12 years alone has seen JCB recruit 1,500 apprentices.
When they started work, they were earning £3 a week. During their visit they were given a tour of the Story of JCB exhibition, met some of JCB’s newest apprentices and were given a special VIP lunch.
Lord Bamford, who served an engineering apprenticeship in France before joining JCB in 1964, said: “The recruitment of our first apprentices 60 years ago laid very firm foundations for the future. We have recruited hundreds of apprentices since those early days and many of them have gone on to senior positions in the company. It really is a fantastic way to start a career.”
Chris Carnwell, now 75, of Tean, near Cheadle, Staffordshire, retired from JCB in 2008 after nearly 45 years with the company. He qualified as a tool maker after his apprenticeship and ended his career as a senior engineer. He said: “When I was at school, I was always very good at woodwork and metalwork and used to come top of the class in that field.
“I wanted to do something to use those practical skills and enquired about getting a position at JCB which, in 1964, was still an up-and-coming company. I had two interviews and was lucky enough to be selected for an apprenticeship. My apprenticeship really was superb and set me up for life.”
Mick Higgs, 75, of Wetley Rocks, near Stoke-on-Trent, went on to work for JCB 38 years and rose to the position of Director and worked for several years for JCB in India.
He said: “Starting an apprenticeship at JCB really did lay some fantastic foundations for my career and opened up a world of opportunity for me including working for the company in both India and Germany. Apprenticeships are a route I would recommend to any young person without any hesitation.”
