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British billionaire Anthony Bamford has made his youngest son co-chairman of JCB, passing over the elder son who had spent two decades being prepared for the job.
George Bamford moves up from deputy chairman at the start of October, in the first change at the top of the Staffordshire-based digger maker in more than fifty years. Lord Bamford, who is 80, announced it on Monday, Sept. 28 alongside full-year results.
Jo Bamford was the one everyone expected. He joined the family firm in 2004 and the board in 2006, rose to head of major contracts, and separately bought the bus manufacturer Wrightbus. George spent those years building watches under his own Bamford brand.
The elder son also tried to hurry his father. Jo is understood to have pressed Lord Bamford to step aside, which his father regarded as an attempted coup.
Lord Bamford settled the question publicly in May, telling the Telegraph he had chosen George. Remaining a family business matters very much and there are plans, he said, adding that he was lucky and privileged to be running it now but did not intend to do so forever, because he is 80 for heaven's sake.
The company announced the succession alongside numbers that went the wrong way. Pre-tax profit fell to £642 million from £687.3 million, and machine sales dropped 5.2% to 113,498. JCB gained global market share in 2025 but could not grow demand in North America.
North America is where the money is going anyway. JCB opens a £750 million plant at San Antonio in Texas next month, employing 1,500 people, which will be the largest factory it owns anywhere. Chief executive Graeme Macdonald expects moderate growth this year on the back of it.
Britain's tax rules are part of the reason the Texas plant matters. Jo Bamford warned in April that the government's inheritance tax changes for family firms could push the group abroad, telling City AM that the family tax is a real problem and that JCB could quite easily become an American business. He said he loves being in Britain, but that there is only so much any government can ultimately do.
JCB employs 20,000 people worldwide, 8,000 of them in the United Kingdom, and is one of the most recognisable manufacturers Britain has left.
George takes the chair jointly with his father rather than replacing him.
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