JCB, which has just set a new world land speed record of 406.320 mph driven by its pioneering hydrogen technology, is ramping up investment in its future with significant pledges to UK manufacturing and US new production factory.
It is well to be noted that the manufacturer is investing pretty heavily when it comes to the transformation of its Staffordshire World HQ, whereas in the US, JCB’s new factory in San Antonio, Texas, opens in October 2026, generating 1,500 jobs over the next five years – which by the way, is its biggest in the world.
Apparently, JCB is investing for its next chapter, and George Bamford is all set to be the joint chairman of the family business with his father, Lord Bamford. It is the first shift at the top of JCB in over 50 years, during which time the business has developed from its Staffordshire roots into one of the largest privately owned manufacturers in Britain, which has 23 factories and over 20,000 employees around the world.
This comes after JCB reported a resilient performance in 2025 in spite of the mixed economic conditions and geopolitical challenges around the entire world. Sales turnover was £5.7 billion, profit before tax was £642 million, and machine sales were around 113,498 units. The business remained debt-free with no net borrowings. The global market share of JCB also increased, regardless of flat demand in North America and a 12% market decline in India.
Interestingly, at the heart of JCB’s commitment to Britain is the £100 million revamp when it comes to its Staffordshire headquarters, which has been JCB’s home ever since 1950, when Joseph Cyril Bamford moved production to a former cheese factory located in Rocester. The transformation includes an entirely automated powder paint plant that cost £60 million and a shop floor that has been completely modernized, which will help ensure the future of over 8,000 UK jobs.
It is well to be noted that JCB’s new $1 billion factory located in San Antonio, Texas, which is the company’s largest factory in the world at one million square feet, opens in October 2026 in the USA. It will produce Loadall telescopic handlers as well as access equipment for the largest construction equipment market in the world – North America.
As part of UK manufacturing and US new production factory, JCB investing in factories is being compared with investing in innovation. JCB has invested £100 million in developing hydrogen combustion technology and is the first construction equipment company in the world to market a fully approved hydrogen-fuelled combustion engine, with hydrogen-powered machines now in production.
Those engines took JCB into the record books in August 2026 at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats. Wing Commander Andy Green OBE took the JCB Hydromax to 406.320 mph, or 653.909 km/h, on the Salt Flats to become the fastest ever hydrogen-powered vehicle, which apparently is more than twice the preceding hydrogen combustion record and beats JCB’s Dieselmax diesel record set 20 years ago. The JCB Hydromax model was powered by two production-based hydrogen engines made at JCB’s Foston, Derbyshire, factory and took just 18 months to go from idea to world record.
Meanwhile, the JCB Academy, which is a pioneering project backed by Anthony Bamford to help solve the engineering skills shortage in the UK, goes from strength to strength. Interestingly, in 2026, 708 students applied for the 314 places that were available this September, continuing the academy’s long-standing track record of being heavily overbooked. Opened in 2010, it has so far educated approximately 3,750 youths and has a 100% record of graduates going into employment or further education. In September 2026, 116 new apprentices, undergraduates, and graduates, chosen from over 6,300 applicants, also became part of JCB.