JCB (heavy equipment manufacturer)

J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB) is a British multinational manufacturer of equipment for construction, agriculture, waste handling, and demolition.

In it, using a welding set which he bought second-hand for £1 from English Electric, he made his first vehicle, a tipping trailer from war-surplus materials.

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.

[13] In 2014, it was reported that three out of every four pieces of construction equipment sold in India was a JCB, and that its Indian operations accounted for 17.5% of its total revenue.

[16] Due to trade sanctions imposed following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, JCB suspended its operations in Russia in March 2022.

JCB Research has been described as an obscure company, allegedly worth £27,000, but which donated £2M to the Conservative Party in the run up to the 2010 election, making it the largest donor.

[27][28] According to Ethical Consumer, JCB has six subsidiaries in jurisdictions considered to be tax havens, in Singapore, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Delaware and Switzerland.

[30][31] JCB has been listed on the database in light of its involvement in activities related to "the supply of equipment and materials facilitating the construction and the expansion of settlements and the wall, and associated infrastructures".

[33][34][35] In October 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.

[36] 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 £447M 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.”[37][38] JCB is a significant donor to the UK Conservative Party.

[42] In October 2016, it was reported that JCB had left the CBI business lobby group in the summer of the same year due to the organisation's anti-Brexit stance.

[41] In May 2021, Anthony Bamford rejected an invitation to rejoin CBI, after previously having called it a "waste of time" that "didn’t represent my business or private companies".

JCB's first welding set
The first vehicle JCB made (a farm trailer)
The Fossor (1979) by Walenty Pytel , made from parts of JCB vehicles, at the headquarters in Rocester
js215LC tracked backhoe excavator in the Himalayas (elev. 3,770 m (12,370 ft)