JCB is marking its 80th birthday with news of a £100 million investment in ultra-modern manufacturing facilities at its global headquarters in the UK.
The project at the company’s plant in Rocester, Staffordshire, 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 was announced as the British family company prepares to celebrate its 80th birthday – and that of its Chairman Anthony Bamford – tomorrow (Oct 23rd). The company is making the occasion by giving the entire global workforce of more than 19,000 people an additional day’s holiday on October 24th.
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.
Anthony Bamford was born on October 23rd 1945 on the same day as his father Joseph Cyril Bamford founded JCB. Today 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.”