JCB has announced a £100 million investment in new ‘ultra-modern’ manufacturing facilities at its global headquarters in Rocester, confirming its commitment to its 8,000-strong UK workforce.
The project will see the installation of a fully automated powder paint plant costing £60 million as well as a full modernisation of the shop floor, with new machining centres, friction welders and cylinder boring machines.
The investment has been unveiled as the digger maker prepares to celebrate its 80th birthday tomorrow.
Daily Focus reported earlier this week that the anniversary is also being marked with an additional day’s holiday for its 19,000 workers around the world on Friday, October 24.
JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford said investing in the World HQ, JCB’s home since 1950, was an important and logical step for the company.
Lord Bamford said: “Basing JCB in the UK makes business sense, just as it has always made business sense. The work ethic in our country remains strong – especially in the Midlands, with its deep engineering heritage.
“It makes perfect sense to invest heavily in our British factories and the £100 million we are investing now will put us at the forefront of our industry. Obviously, we are expanding overseas, not least in America, where we have been for decades. But the UK is our home.
“We directly employ more than 19,000 people around the world, more than 8,000 of whom are in the UK. And even though around three-quarters of our UK production is exported, we continue to make a huge contribution to this country and to the national economy.”
Lord Bamford was born on the same day as his father Joseph Cyril Bamford founded JCB in a 12 ft x 15 ft lock up garage in Uttoxeter.
Lord Bamford took over from his father as Chairman in 1975 and has overseen the company’s expansion into a global manufacturer making more than 350 different products for the construction industry and agriculture.
Since then, turnover has rocketed from £44 million a year to £5.8 billion last year and annual machine sales have grown from around 4,000 to around 120,000 in 2024.
Inventor and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson paid tribute to Lord Bamford as he and JCB prepared to celebrate their 80th birthdays.
He said: “Anthony Bamford is a wonderful example to us all for his entrepreneurship, his engineering, design, and manufacturing. He has built what was a small British manufacturing company into one which is a true global success story and one we are all very proud of.”
