JCB is one of the best-known names in the construction equipment industry. It is still family owned and, although some of its largest manufacturing operations are still in the UK, it now has factories on four continents and is becoming a truly global supplier. The company was last profiled in Off-Highway Research’s European Service in 2016, and the purpose of this profile is to identify major changes since the last publication, highlight the company's worldwide growth and to offer an appraisal of the likely fortunes that face JCB in the medium term.

At the time of the last profile in 2016, the industry was in the middle of a sustained period of economic prosperity and high sales volumes. In contrast, for the last 18 months the world has been in the middle of a pandemic that has resulted in companies making rapid and often drastic decisions to counteract the effects of the pandemic, but the outlook is still clouded by whether a further wave is about to ravage the industry, or whether there is light at the end of the tunnel. It would appear, at the time of writing in September 2021, that there is significant hope that the worst may be over, but it is evident that different parts of the world will have varying rates of recovery, and it is evident that those companies that are able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions will benefit the most.