Tag Archive for: JCB

JCB lends a hand

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JCB lends a hand: JCB has answered a call from the University Hospitals of North Midlands for donations of vital supplies of personal protective equipment during the current Coronavirus crisis.

More than 8,000 pairs of gloves and a large quantity of face masks have been gifted to the hospital as it gears up for an influx of patients in the coming weeks.

JCB lends a hand

JCB lends a hand

They were donated by the JCB World Parts Centre at Uttoxeter, which continues to provide service, technical and spare parts back up to customers including farmers maintaining the food supply chain, contractors providing JCB generators to NHS hospitals and hirers keeping crucial utility services intact.

JCB Parts and Service Managing Director Ian Sayers said: “We are delighted to support our fantastic NHS and the Royal Stoke Hospital by donating much needed gloves and masks. They are doing an amazing job and we are pleased to be able to help.”

JCB donated the equipment after a former employee who now works at the Royal Stoke University Hospital got in touch.

Paul Bytheway, Chief Operating Officer at UHNM, said: “We have been delighted at the response from local businesses across Staffordshire who are really pulling together in this crisis and grateful to JCB for their generous donation.”

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JCB joins national call to action

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JCB joins national call to action: JCB is poised to re-start production at a factory closed as a result of the Coronavirus crisis in order to join the national effort to manufacture ventilators, the company announced today.

JCB received a direct appeal from Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month to help plug the national ventilator shortage and to help save lives of Coronavirus patients. Following the approach, JCB Chairman Lord Bamford promised to help in any way the company could and immediately mobilised a research and engineering team to examine potential ways to assist.

JCB joins national call to action

JCB joins national call to action

Now JCB is ready to restart production at a factory which has been closed for nearly two weeks as a result of the Coronavirus crisis. But instead of making cabs for JCB diggers, the plant is being mobilised to make special steel housings for a brand new design of ventilator from Dyson. A minimum of 10,000 of the JCB housings are earmarked for manufacture once Dyson receives regulatory approval for its design.

The first prototypes of the housings have been delivered to Dyson after rolling off the production line at JCB’s £50 million Cab Systems factory in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, which Boris Johnson visited during the election campaign. The factory fell silent on March 18th along with eight other JCB UK manufacturing plants after a fall in demand caused by the Coronavirus crisis. Mass production of the housings could start in a matter of days.

Today JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “When we were approached by the Prime Minister we were determined, as a British company, to help in any way we could. This project has gone from design to production in just a matter of days and I am delighted that we have been able to deploy the skills of our talented engineering, design and fabrication teams so quickly at a time of national crisis. This is also a global crisis, of course, and we will naturally help with the production of more housings if these ventilators are eventually required by other countries.”

JCB’s response to the national call to action would see the return to work for around 50 employees affected by an extended company shutdown announced last week. JCB suspended production at its nine UK production plants until at least the end of April as a result of the Coronavirus crisis and furloughed the vast majority of its 6,500 workforce. The company is paying them 80% of their basic pay for the next month, regardless of what they earn.

Employees returning to work to help manufacture the ventilator housings will be paid 100% of their normal pay.

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JCB shutdown with employee pledge

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JCB shutdown with employee pledge: JCB is suspending UK production until at least the end of April as a result of the coronavirus crisis and will continue to pay employees unable to work, the company announced today.

The firm’s nine manufacturing plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham closed on March 18th as disruption resulting from the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented reduction in global demand. At that stage, only shop floor employees were affected by the move and were paid in full during this period, while office staff continued to work a 39-hour week from home.

JCB shutdown with employee pledge

JCB shutdown with employee pledge

The news of today’s extended shutdown will mean that the vast majority of JCB’s 6,500 workforce will now be asked to stop working until at least the end of April. During this period, all affected JCB employees will be paid 80% of their basic pay. Senior JCB Directors will not be taking a salary from the company until further notice.

JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “These are certainly unprecedented times and none of us expected to find ourselves in this situation. In announcing that all those JCB colleagues asked not to work will receive 80% of their pay, we hope to remove any financial concerns that many people will undoubtedly have had.”

JCB also intends to make an application to the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help offset the cost of its support of employees during this challenging period. The scheme is designed to support employers in continuing to pay part of employees’ salaries, for employees who would otherwise have been laid off. The Government scheme pays 80% of an employee’s salary up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. In devising its scheme, JCB has set no cap and will pay 80% of each affected employee’s pay.

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JCB stops production as demand slows

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JCB stops production as demand slows: JCB is today stopping production at all of its UK manufacturing plants as disruption resulting from the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic causes an unprecedented reduction in global demand.

The company is halting production for the rest of this week and the whole of next week at its nine manufacturing plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham.  Shop floor employees affected by the move will be paid in full during this period.  No decision has yet been taken on what happens from the week commencing Monday, March 30th and beyond. Office staff will continue to work a 39-hour week, with many working from home, in support of the Government’s social distancing policy.

JCB stops production as demand slows

JCB stops production as demand slows

JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “These measures are unprecedented in the history of JCB but are absolutely necessary to protect the business. As we continue to deal with the health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more challenging to maintain business continuity in this volatile economic climate. JCB is a global exporter and worldwide demand for our products has dropped sharply as customers cancel orders and defer deliveries. This is not just a UK issue, it is worldwide and with countries like France, Spain and Italy going into lock-down, those key markets for construction equipment disappear overnight.

“In light of this fast-changing situation, we need to re-plan our production and, as a result, manufacturing at all UK factories will cease for the rest of this week and all of next week. This will allow us to take stock of the situation, re-plan our order book, prioritise products that are definitely required by customers, and ensure parts and components are reassigned to support the production of these products.”

JCB’s plant in Pudong, near Shanghai, ceased production last month as the impact of the pandemic initially took hold. After several weeks of disruption, the factory is now fully operational again.

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JCB backs British canoeist

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JCB backs British canoeist: British canoeing medallist Adam Burgess has some extra power in his paddle as he goes for gold this summer – after landing a sponsorship deal from digger maker JCB.

Staffordshire-born Adam, 27, started canoeing aged 10 on the River Trent in Stone, Staffordshire with the Stafford and Stone Canoe Club and has been competing internationally for Great Britain and winning medals since the age of 14.

JCB backs British canoeist

JCB backs British canoeist

In 2015, he won the U23 World Championship in Brazil and two years later took his first individual World Cup medal in Markkleeberg, near Leipzig, Germany, and reached a career high World Ranking of 7th.

Now, Adam is celebrating after Rocester-based JCB stepped in to offer him sponsorship as he prepares for his greatest challenge – the 2020 summer games in Tokyo. Adam has already qualified for the event despite being considered an underdog after battling back from injury.

Adam, of Stone, said today: “JCB’s sponsorship has changed so much for me. Mostly, it means zero compromise now in my preparations for this year. It means I will have the best equipment available and take advantage of every recovery strategy I can in terms of diet. After all this hard work, it feels fantastic to be identified by such an amazing local company for this opportunity, and I will be incredibly proud to represent JCB!”

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “2020 is a very special year for our family company, as we celebrate our 75th anniversary. We are delighted to give our support to one of Staffordshire’s young ‘home-grown’ sports stars, and it would be wonderful to think that Adam could give the county cause for extra celebration this summer. We wish him the very best of luck in Tokyo and in his future career.”

Adam is based in London at the Lee Valley White Water Centre and regularly travels home to visit his family in Stone and Trentham. He rarely travels without his canoe – enabling him to enjoy a nostalgic paddle on the River Trent.

Adam added: “I used to train regularly before school on the Trent and I firmly believe it’s that work I did back then which made me the athlete I am today. I am fast across the water and very efficient – something I attribute to the days paddling ‘through treacle’ on the Trent in Stone!

“This year it is all about the games and I’m doing everything I can to try to bring home that gold medal. I have been selected much earlier than most of my main rivals, which is a great advantage. I only have to peak once this year at the end of July whereas my rivals still have to navigate their national selections between March-May.”

Adam credits much of his recent form to his devotion to yoga and will shortly qualify as a yogi. The life-long Stoke City fan is also a qualified barista with a big love for speciality coffee.

Adam is the second Staffordshire athlete to be sponsored by JCB in the run-up to the 2020 games. The company has also given its financial support to British Triple Jumping champion Ben Williams, 28, of Newcastle-Under-Lyme, as he prepares to represent Great Britain at the summer games.

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