Four former employees at JCB were treated to a VIP visit to mark the 60th anniversary of their recruitment in the first batch of JCB apprentices.
Nine 15-year-old boys started as Craft Apprentices at the Rocester plant in 1964. Chris Carnwell, Nigel Heinich, Mick Higgs, and Keith Hepden retraced their steps around the factory and were welcomed by chairman Anthony Bamford, who also started work at the company in 1964.
During the tour, they were shown around the Story of JCB exhibition and met some of the company’s newest apprentices.
The apprenticeship scheme currently has 300 people learning at the company, and in the last 12 years has seen 1,500 apprentices come through the door.
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, retired in 2008 after nearly 45 years with the company. After his apprenticeship, he qualified as a tool maker 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 along with two others, Billy Brighouse, and John Millward.
“I’m very proud of the fact that my apprenticeship indentures were signed by JCB’s founder Joseph Cyril Bamford and I still have them to this day. My apprenticeship really was superb and set me up for life.”
Six other apprentices would start that year, John Smith, Mick Higgs, Geoff Mellor, Keith Hepden, Don Rushton, and Nigel Heinich.
Nigel, 75, said: “Mr Bamford was very proud of that first apprentice intake and he paid particular interest in our progress. For most of us, out of our first wage packet, we had to buy our first pair of steel-capped, toe-tector boots, which we had to wear in the college workshops or the factory.
“To identify that we were apprentices, we all had to wear white overalls emblazoned with a large red JCB logo on the back, with another on the pocket. I also remember were given a book of one-shilling daily tickets (five pence in today’s money) towards our canteen lunch. This covered half the cost of a main course and a pudding.
“I went on to work for JCB for more than 35 years in many different roles including service technical clerk, training instructor, service supervisor. Sixty years on, it’s a route I’d highly recommend any young person to follow. It sets you up for life.”
Mick Higgs, 75, went on to work for the company for 38 years, rising to the role of director and even working for several years 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.”
Keith Hepden, 75, said: “When I started work at JCB there were around 500 people working there and we all knew one another. One of my favourite memories of those early days was actually a time when I was off ill and my mother spotted Mr JCB’s Cadillac coming up the drive and it turned out to be one of the company’s chauffeurs delivering my wages which were paid in cash those days!”
For more information go to www.jcb.com