Autumn Budget: JCB boss calls on Reeves not to do anything ‘daft’
The chief executive of JCB has called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves not to do anything “daft” in her Autumn Budget which would deter inward investment.
Graeme Macdonald, who leads the Staffordshire-headquartered manufacturing giant under chairman Lord Anthony Bamford, said he’s “not optimistic” about the Budget next month, adding that Reeves is “definitely” going to raise taxes again.
The CEO also said that he hoped the Budget is “not too damaging for British business” and the “last thing” that should happen is private companies being “sacred off”.
Speaking to City AM, Macdonald also revealed that JCB had taken a “battering” from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs – a policy which has cost the company “hundreds of millions of pounds”.
Macdonald was doing a media round of interviews to announce an £100m investment into JCB’s UK headquarters.
Budget 2025: ‘I’m not optimistic to be honest’
On the Budget, Macdonald said: “We’re watching very closely on anything that the Chancellor may or may not do in this Budget that may impact the business.
“We can’t control it but our investment here – our investments anywhere – are really not for the short term.
“Politicians and governments come and go. Our factory investments are 25, 50-year investments.
“So we still want to be manufacturing here in Staffordshire and the UK irrespective of what is thrown at us by this government.
“I’m not optimistic to be honest. I think they’re definitely going have more tax rises, whether it’s direct impact on businesses or individual, I’m not quite sure.”
The CEO of JCB added: “I really don’t know what she’s planning, but it’s inevitably not going be good news, I would imagine.
“We just hope it’s not too damaging for British business because it’s private businesses in the UK that generate employment and generate tax revenues in the first place. And the last thing you want to do is scare them off.”
When asked whether Chancellor Rachel Reeves could announce a new tax measure in her Budget which could force JCB to rethink its investment plans, Macdonald said: “You would hope the politicians aren’t that daft that they really do detract from inward investment.
“Because it’s exactly what she wants – they want the economy to grow and the economy will only grow with inward investment.”
£100m investment announced by JCB
JCB’s announcement of its £100m investment into its Rocester headquarters has been timed to coincide with the company’s 80thbirthday.
A total of £60m will be made available straight away and will be spent on a fully automated powder paint plant and a “comprehensive modernisation” of its shop floor – with new machining centres, friction welders and cylinder boring machines.
JCB said the investment will safeguard more than 8,000 UK jobs and would not lead to a cut in its headcount despite some operations being automated.
Speaking about the £100m investment, Macdonald said: “This week is a big week for JCB and our chairman, Lord Bamford, both are turning 80 later this week.
“When Lord Bamford became chairman back in 1975, we had one factory then. I think we were turning over £44m.
“Today we’re 22 factories around the world about to become 23, turning over £5.8bn.
“The decision on the £100m investment was really to invest back here in our headquarters. It’s a full modernisation of the whole factory.
“£60m is for a brand new state-of-the-art paint plant for all the products we manufacture here.
“The other £40m is basically relaying out a much more lean and efficient factory for the future.
“It’s going to protect this facility for hopefully the next five, six decades.”
Bamford: ‘The UK is our home’
JCB chairman Lord Anthony Bamford said: “Basing JCB in the UK makes business sense, just as it has always made business sense.
“The work ethic in our country remains strong – especially in the Midlands, with its deep engineering heritage.
“It makes perfect sense to invest heavily in our British factories and the £100m we are investing now will put us at the forefront of our industry.
“Obviously, we are expanding overseas, not least in America, where we have been for decades. But the UK is our home.
“We directly employ more than 19,000 people around the world, more than 8,000 of whom are in the UK.
“And even though around three quarters of our UK production is exported, we continue to make a huge contribution to this country and to the national economy.”
USA expansion plans
The UK investment plans have been announced ahead of work on a new $500m (£372.4m) JCB factory starting in San Antonio, Texas, in 2026.
In April, JCB announced it would be ramping up production in the USA in the wake of President Donald Trump introducing new trade tariffs.
At the time, the company said it had revised plans to increase the size of the new Texas plant to 1m sq ft which will employ up to 1,500 staff.
The firm already has a plant in Georgia, USA, where it has been based for 25 years.
In its latest set of accounts, JCB said its North American market “showed some resilience” but fell by four per cent in 2024.
Addressing the impact Trump’s tariffs – which are 10 per cent reciprocal and 25 per cent on the steel content of its machines – have had on JCB, Macdonald said: “It’s been a bit of a battering from the tariffs financially.
“It just re-emphasises the reason that the Trump administration wants to do this is to attract inward investment and create high quality, high paid jobs and skilled jobs, which is exactly what we’re doing in Texas.”
Macdonald also confirmed that Trump’s tariffs have cost the business “hundreds of millions of pounds” but the CEO would not be drawn on an exact figure.
JCB billionaire banks record £866m pay day
The Investment announcement comes after City AM reported earlier this month that the billionaire Bamford family paid themselves £866m in 2024.
The Staffordshire-headquartered manufacturer issued the huge dividend which was up significantly from the £300m it paid out in 2023.
The dividend total from 2023 had previously been JCB’s largest pay out in a decade until its latest set of results.
The figure was revealed in recently accounts filed with Companies House which also showed JCB’s turnover declined from £6.4bn to £5.8bn and its pre-tax profit also fell from £805.8m to £687.3m.
However, JCB also increased its headcount by more than 1,000 from 13,571 to 14,734 in the year.
JCB is controlled by Lord Anthony Bamford after inheriting the company from its founder Joseph Cyril Bamford.