To coincide with the company’s 80th anniversary, as well the 80th birthday of chairman Anthony Bamford, JCB has announced a £100m investment in its manufacturing facilities at its headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire.
The investment will include the installation of a £60m fully automated powder paint plant, as well as a full modernisation of the shop floor, with new machining centres, friction welders and cylinder boring machines.
Lord Bamford explained that the investment was an important and logical step for the company: “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.”