JCB unveils £31m engine investment
JCB has announced plans to create 350 jobs through a £31m engine development project. The Rocester-based company's programme was boosted by a £4.5m Regional Growth Fund investment.
The yellow digger manufacturer said the new jobs would be generated across its Midlands and Wales plants.
Development of the new engine – which will be installed in JCB's own products and also sold to third parties – means almost 50 new advanced engineering jobs are available immediately at JCB Power Systems, with recruitment already underway.
When the engine goes into production, more than 300 additional jobs will be created across JCB's Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham factories between 2016 and 2021.
The project was awarded £4.5m of funding from the government's RGF pot earlier this year.
JCB Chief Executive Alan Blake said: "The announcement that we now intend to invest £31m developing our next generation engine is an important step in building on the success we have enjoyed so far and it will take the efficiency, productivity and environmental performance of our engines to new levels.
"The new JCB engine will give our products a huge competitive edge across global markets which we anticipate will lead to substantially increased sales between 2016 and 2021.
"That rise in demand will result in the creation of an additional 300 positions at our UK factories in addition to almost 50 engineering roles we are recruiting for immediately."
Design and research into the new engine project will take place at JCB Power Systems in Foston, Derbyshire, where the company's JCB Dieselmax engine is manufactured.
