The outstanding contribution of JCB employees across the globe is being recognised with an extra day’s holiday to mark the company’s 80th anniversary.

More than 19,000 people at 22 plants around the world will celebrate the family digger maker’s remarkable international success story with the holiday on Friday, October 24th. In the UK, more than 8,000 employees based at JCB’s plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham will enjoy the extra day off – giving everyone a long weekend.

It will be 80 years on Thursday, October 23rd since the late Joseph Cyril Bamford CBE founded JCB in a 12 ft x 15 ft lock up garage in Uttoxeter – on the same day his son Anthony was born. Lord Bamford took over from his father as Chairman in 1975 and has overseen the company’s expansion into a global manufacturer making more than 350 different products for the construction industry and agriculture.

Lord Bamford said:

“JCB would be nowhere if it wasn’t for the efforts of our employees around the world and this extra day’s holiday is a small token of my family’s gratitude as we mark our 80th birthday.”