For JCB, 2025 is a momentous year. The construction equipment manufacturer, founded in the United Kingdom directly after the Second World War, celebrated its 80th anniversary on 23 October and even received a visit from His Majesty King Charles III earlier in the year in recognition of the milestone.

But the company, which takes its name from founder Joseph Cyril Bamford’s initials and which the Bamford family still owns, is also an international name, including in the US and Canada. It sold its first product to North America in 1964, set up a US base in 1970 and opened its first factory there in 2001.

Almost a quarter of a century later, in June 2024, work started on a factory in San Antonio, Texas that will create 1,500 jobs by the end of this decade. Costing US$500 million, providing 720,000 ft2 of manufacturing space and occupying a 400-acre site, it will be JCB’s second largest plant after its British headquarters and the biggest investment in its history. It will make equipment specifically for North American customers and is so engaged with growing its market presence in the region that when the Trump administration announced tariffs on imports at the start of April 2025, the company said within days that it would double the original size of the Texas factory.

JCB’s US headquarters is in Savannah, Georgia, alongside regional offices in Dallas, Texas; Santa Monica, California; and Miami, Florida. Its North American staff exceeds 1,000 people and accounts for around 5 per cent of its global workforce of 19,000, spread across 22 factories worldwide including 11 in its native United Kingdom and a further six in India. Its dealer network includes more than 100 companies in almost 400 locations across the US and Canada.