JCB director David Bell has been appointed the first honorary president of the Construction Equipment Association (CEA).
David has been with JCB for 43, having initially joined the manufacturer as a graduate trainee following an engineering apprenticeship at Rolls Royce in Derby. He has since held a number of roles including managing director of JCB sales/service, JCB agriculture, JCB’s backhoe loader and telescopic handler business units and Group HR director. David has also been involved with the JCB Academy since its inception and where he is currently chairman of governors.
In 2010, David became JCB’s chief corporate development officer focusing on growth in Brazil, China and latterly in Jaipur India.
Rob Oliver CEA chief executive said, “David has been a well known leader in the construction equipment industry for many years. His scope of experience and continuing enthusiasm for our sector is outstanding. I am thrilled that he has agreed to be our figurehead as our first ever honorary president. We very much look forward to working with him.”
Speaking on his new role, David added, “The construction equipment industry is vitally important to the UK economy and I strongly believe it has a very bright future. The CEA is the voice of our industry and having spent my entire working life over 40 years working in different roles at JCB, I have a good understanding of the issues that everyone is facing. I’m really looking forward to championing the interests of the industry on behalf of the CEA at the highest level.”
