JCB Staff Receive 5.2 Percent Pay Increase

JCB staff in Wrexham have been given something to celebrate this Christmas after the company announced a 5.2% pay rise and £500 Christmas bonus for all of its UK staff.

Around 4,400 employees at JCB factories in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham will share in the bonus worth a total of more than £2 million.

The pay rise was announced as a result of November’s Retail Price Index (RPI) and will take effect from the 1st January 2012.

The company had struggled in recent years; in October 2008 JCB’s UK production employees voted to work a 34 hour week in order to help save the jobs of hundreds of their colleagues.

Staff were also forced to take a 18 month pay freeze from 2009 until the summer of 2010.

However, JCB appears to have been trading strongly this year allowing for both the pay rise and bonus package.

JCB Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford said : “JCB has continued to recover strongly this year from the difficult trading conditions of 2008 and 2009 and all areas of our business rose to the challenge of growing sales in a tough economic environment. Last year we sold 51,600 machines and this year sales will increase by more than 30 per cent.

“The award of another Christmas bonus and a substantial pay increase wouldn’t have been possible without team work at JCB during the severe economic downturn of 2008 and 2009 when everyone worked together to ensure the business emerged strongly from a difficult trading period.

“The economic outlook has become more uncertain in recent months but if we continue to work as a team, I’m sure we can achieve even more next year.”