JCB rewards UK staff with record bonus

Digger maker JCB is to give its entire UK workforce a £1,000 (€1,388) Christmas bonus following a year of soaring sales, it emerged today.

All 5,500 staff at the Staffordshire-based manufacturer will get the windfall after sales topped £2bn (€2.77bn) for the first time this year. Turnover is up from the previous record of £1.75bn (€2.43bn) in 2006.

The privately-owned business said it would make more than 70,000 machines in 2007, compared to 55,000 last year.

It has made this year the most successful in the firm’s 62-year history, the company added.

Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford, son of founder Joseph Cyril Bamford, said: “We have always rewarded our people when the company has done well.

“What’s extraordinary about this year is that we have set new records for sales and production which makes 2007 our best ever year. This really is something to celebrate and I thank everyone involved in this superb effort.”

This year’s bonus tops the £850 (€1,120) handed out to staff last year.

JCB was founded in 1945 and has 10 factories in the UK including in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham. There are also manufacturing bases in the US, Brazil, Germany, India and China.

This year has seen demand soar for its diggers in the UK, Russia and India.

John Hepden, 41, of Tean in Staffordshire, who has worked at JCB for 15 years, said: “The bonus makes it a really special Christmas. There are not many companies nowadays that would make a gesture like this.”

Sir Anthony warned that the year ahead could be more difficult for the manufacturer.

He said: “As we go into 2008 we need to be vigilant of the challenges ahead, particularly in North America, the world’s biggest construction equipment market, where the deterioration in the market continues to impact on our business.”