JCB Chairman appoints youngest son to leading role

Digger manufacturer JCB is to operate under a joint chairmanship, with George Bamford taking on the role alongside his father, incumbent chairman Lord Bamford. 

George Bamford, 45, who founded watch brand Bamford Watch Department, will take the role from the start of October.

It comes as Staffordshire-based JCB, which is due to open a new factory in Texas next month, accelerates investment in the UK and US. 

JCB revealed a dip in profits of about 6.6% last year after a fall in machine sales but said its global market share had increased in 2025 despite contraction in growth in some key locations.

The Rocester-based company was founded by Joseph Cyril Bamford in 1945.

His son Lord Anthony Bamford has been chairman of the firm since 1975, driving forward its international expansion.