JCB (company)

JCB was founded by Joseph Cyril Bamford in October 1945 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. He rented a lock-up garage 3.7 by 4.6 m (12 by 15 ft). In it, using a welding set which he bought second-hand for £2-10s (= £2.50) from English Electric, he made his first vehicle, a tipping trailer from war-surplus materials. The trailer's sides and floor were made from steel sheet that had been part of air raid shelters. On the same day as his son Anthony was born, he sold the trailer at a nearby market for £45 (plus a part-exchanged farm cart) and at once made another trailer. At one time he made vehicles in Eckersley's coal yard in Uttoxeter. The first trailer and the welding set have been preserved.

JCB's first welding set

The first vehicle JCB made (a farm trailer)

In 1948, six people were working for the company, and it made the first hydraulic tipping trailer in Europe. In 1950, it moved to an old cheese factory in Rocester, still employing six. A year later, he began painting his products yellow. In 1953, his first backhoe loader was launched, and the JCB logo appeared for the first time. It was designed by Derby Media and advertising designer Leslie Smith. In 1957, the firm launched the "hydra-digga", incorporating the excavator and the major loader as a single all-purpose tool useful for the agricultural and construction industries.[8]

In 1960, JCB's hydraulic tractors entered the North American market, proving a long-lasting success. JCB became, and still is, the brand leader in the world. By 1964, JCB had sold over 3,000 3C backhoe loaders. The next year, the first 360-degree excavator was introduced, the JCB 7.[9]

In 1978, the Loadall machine was introduced. The next year, JCB started its operation in India. In 1991, the firm entered a joint venture with Sumitomo of Japan to produce excavators, which ended in 1998.[10] Two years later, a JCB factory was completed in Pooler near Savannah, Georgia in the US, and the next year a factory was opened in Brazil.

In December 2000, JCB was fined €39.6m by the European Commission for violating European Union antitrust law.[11] The fine related to restrictions on sales outside allotted territories, purchases between authorised distributors, bonuses and fees which restricted out of territory sales, and occasional joint fixing of resale prices and discounts across different territories.[12] JCB appealed the decision, with the European Court of First Instance upholding portions of the appeal and reducing the original fine by 25%. JCB appealed to the European Court of Justice but this final appeal was rejected in 2006,[13] with the court slightly increasing the reduced fine by €864,000.[14]

Production of the first engine designed and manufactured by JCB, the JCB444 diesel engine, began in 2004.[15] In 2005, for the first time in nearly forty years, JCB bought a company, purchasing the German equipment firm Vibromax. In the same year, the firm opened a new factory in Pudong, China. By 2006, the firm had 4000 employees, twice what it had in 1975.

Planning of a new £40 million pound JCB Heavy Products site began following the launch of an architectural design competition in 2007 managed by RIBA Competitions,[16] and by the next year, the firm began to move from its old site in Pinfold Street in Uttoxeter to the new site beside the A50; the Pinfold Street site was demolished in 2009. During that year, JCB announced plans to make India its largest manufacturing hub. Its factory at Ballabgarh in Haryana, was to become the world's largest backhoe loader manufacturing facility.[17]

JCB shed 2,000 jobs during the recession, but in 2010 it announced it was recruiting up to 200 new workers.[18]

The company was a member of the CBI business lobby group until 2016. In October 2016, it was reported that JCB had left the CBI in the summer of 2016 following the Brexit vote.[19] JCB has also been a significant donor to the UK Conservative Party; since 2007 JCB and related Bamford entities have given the party £8.1m in cash or kind.[20] JCB chairman Anthony Bamford donated £100,000 to Vote Leave, the official pro-Brexit group.[19]

JCB now has its X Series, an updated version of the J series Tracked 360° excavators ranging from the JZ70 (7-tonne zero tail swing excavator) to the JS460 (46-tonne tracked excavator). In 2008 at Con expo JCB revealed a new top range JS520 which included the new style paint job with rams painted black.

Wheeled 360° excavators ranging from the JS130W to the JS200W.

Machines can be produced with either monoboom or a triple-articulated boom

In July 2020 the company's electric digger (19C-1E) was the winner of the MacRobert Award, the most prestigious prize for UK engineering innovation.[28]

Industrial and agricultural wheeled loaders from compact 6-tonne hydrostatic machines to larger 25-tonne quarrying machines using a mix of 4- and 6-cylinder diesel engines.

Wheel loader

JCB Fastrac 8250 tractor

JCB has also made its name in the tractor world by producing one of the first such machines that features proper suspension and is capable of travelling at speed on roads. The JCB Fastrac entered production in 1990. Prior to this design, the suspension was difficult because of the fixed-height connections required to farm machinery, and tractors were notoriously slow on the roads. Dependent on the model, the Fastrac can travel at 50 km/h, 65 km/h or 75 km/h (40 mph). At launch the Fastrac was featured on the BBC television programme Tomorrow's World, and years later as Jeremy Clarkson's tractor of choice in Top Gear. From 2006 the company also produces a range of compact tractors designed for grounds-care, horticultural, and light agricultural duties.

JCB also makes a range of military vehicles, which also concentrate on load-handling and excavation.[29] These include the JCB HMEE.

JCB Dieselmax on display at the Heritage Motor Centre

In April 2006, JCB announced that they were developing a diesel-powered land speed record vehicle known as the 'JCB Dieselmax'. The car is powered by two modified JCB 444 diesel power plants using a two-stage turbocharger to generate 750 bhp, one engine driving the front wheels and the other the rear wheels.

On 22 August 2006 the Dieselmax, driven by Andy Green, broke the diesel engine land speed record, attaining a speed of 328.767 miles per hour (529.099 km/h). The following day, the record was again broken, this time with a speed of 350.092 miles per hour (563.418 km/h).

JCB acquired the German company Vibromax, which manufactures compaction equipment.

JCB licenses its brand for a series of rugged feature phones and smartphones targeted at construction personnel. The design and marketing contract was awarded to Data Select in 2010.[30]

The JCB logo dates from 1953; from 1960 the company typewriters were given an extra key to render it accurately.

To demonstrate his faith in the hydraulic fail safes on JCB machines (which lock the arms in the event of a loss of hydraulic pressure, preventing them from crashing to the ground), Joe Cyril Bamford arranged to have several backhoes raise themselves up on their arms, and drove his car beneath them.

This has since developed into a world-famous demonstration of the versatility of the backhoe configuration. The JCB display team (JCB Dancing Diggers) tour agricultural shows and produce videos, showing some of the unusual ways in which such vehicles can support themselves or manoeuvre. For example, it is quite common for drivers to support the vehicle on both buckets, either for turning on the spot without damaging ground, or for spinning the tracks in a puddle to clean them. The display team expanded this concept into a sort of vehicle gymnastics. The drivers are members of JCB's demonstration team, who visit prospective customers and demonstrate machines on the customer's property.

JCB became famous in India named as 'JCB ki Khudai(JCB digging)' thanks to memes about its digging activities.[31]

JCB has been included on a UN Human Rights Council list of companies that operate in illegal Israeli settlements.[36]

In 2020 the British government decided to investigate a complaint that JCB’s sale of equipment to Israel did not comply with the human rights guidelines set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The UK National Contact Point (NCP), part of the UK’s Department of International Trade, agreed to review a complaint against JCB submitted by a charity, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights. JCB said it had no “legal ownership” of its machinery once sold to Comasco, its sole distributor of JCB equipment in Israel.[37]

In 2020, JCB received a £600m loan in emergency financial aid from the UK government, during the coronavirus pandemic, despite its ultimate ownership being in the Netherlands and having reported a record £447 million profit the previous year. Its chief executive Graeme Macdonald said: “Although not a public company, we are eligible for CCF because of our contribution to the UK economy. We don’t expect to utilise it in the short-term but it gives us an insurance policy if there is further disruption from or second spike or other impact around the world.”[38][39]

According to Ethical Consumer, JCB has six subsidiaries in jurisdictions considered to be tax havens, in Singapore, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Delaware and Switzerland.[40]