A bronze bust has been unveiled to mark the centenary of the birth of ‘Mr JCB’.
Joseph Cyril Bamford CBE was born on June 21, 1916 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. He founded the company from a garage in 1945 and retired in 1975, at which point JCB was turning over more than £43 million a year.
His sons, Lord Bamford and Mark Bamford, and his grandson Jo Bamford, unveiled the 50kg bronze bust at JCB’s Rocester base.
Stoke-on-Trent-born sculptor, Andrew Edwards, spent five months creating the image of Mr Bamford in his 1960s heyday.
Lord Bamford said, “My father was without doubt an engineering genius and we wanted to mark the centenary of his birth and the huge contribution he made to Staffordshire and to Great Britain. We are delighted with the bust and it’s very fitting that it has been created in the county of his birth and by a sculptor whose talent was developed right here in Staffordshire.”
The bust will now be on permanent display at JCB’s World HQ and will be seen by the thousands of visitors who pass through every year.
