George Bamford, the founder of Bamford Watch Department and son of longtime JCB chairman Lord Anthony Bamford, is set to become joint chairman of the Staffordshire-based construction and agricultural equipment giant, leading the company alongside his father. The move, according to the seed report, would place him at the top of the family business at the start of October, as JCB pushes ahead with major investments in the UK and a new factory in Texas.
According to The Independent, Lord Anthony Bamford, who has chaired JCB since 1975, said his son will take on the joint chairman role. George Bamford is the founder of Bamford Watch Department, a watch brand. The Independent's account traces JCB's leadership across generations of the Bamford family.
The company’s industrial history is closely tied to the backhoe loader: in 1953, founder Joseph Bamford’s Mk 1 paired a front shovel with a hydraulic rear excavator, a design JCB says helped revolutionize construction work. The company says it has since manufactured more than 1 million backhoes, now made on three continents. That signature product’s long run gives the next generation of leadership a business rooted in a machine that remains central to JCB’s identity.
George Bamford's connection to the family firm is not new. The February 2025 royal visit came as JCB marked its 80th anniversary, having been founded by Joseph Cyril Bamford in 1945.
A Milestone Year Meets a Tougher Market
The leadership change comes as JCB works through a bumpy stretch financially. Per the seed report, the company reported a dip in profits for 2025 after machine sales fell, with pre-tax profits landing at £642 million compared with £687.3 million in 2024. Turnover slipped to £5.7 billion in 2025 from £5.8 billion the prior year, while the firm sold 113,498 machine units, a 5.2 percent year-on-year decline in machine sales, the same report states.
JCB chief executive Graeme Macdonald said 2025 was a more challenging year with mixed market conditions around the world, according to the seed report. North America saw nil market growth in 2025, while India had a 12 percent market contraction, the report adds. Even so, JCB increased its global market share in 2025 and expects moderate growth in 2026, though the company faces ongoing geopolitical uncertainty affecting its outlook for the year ahead, per the same report.
Betting Big on Staffordshire and Texas
Despite the softer results, JCB has accelerated investment in the UK and US rather than pulling back. The company is spending £100 million on a transformation of its Staffordshire headquarters, which includes a £60 million fully automated powder paint plant, according to the seed report. That spending sits alongside JCB's push into hydrogen technology, with a hydrogen combustion engine still under development. JCB has also marked production of its one-millionth backhoe loader, which rolled off its production line in Rocester and was shown at the company's World Headquarters.
Across the Atlantic, JCB is developing a new factory in San Antonio, Texas, which is set to open in October 2026 and create 1,500 jobs over five years, according to the seed report. The Texas plant is expected to help the company avoid tariff costs affecting UK-made products sold in the US, the report notes, and JCB says it will add new capacity in both Texas and Staffordshire as part of the wider expansion.
San Antonio is being built as more than a satellite assembly line: JCB says the roughly 1 million-square-foot plant will become its largest North American manufacturing site and second-largest globally, producing Loadall telescopic handlers and aerial lifts for the North American market. The company has also begun building a local labor pipeline with South Texas Vocational Technical Institute; in September, 22 welding candidates took part in pre-employment assessments as JCB prepared to hire its first skilled welders.
Building on a Family Legacy
George Bamford founded Bamford Watch Department, while his family has led JCB for decades.
For now, the succession sits within a company still processing a mixed financial year while doubling down on its bets in Staffordshire and Texas. Whether the joint chairmanship reshapes JCB's strategy remains to be seen, but the family name at the center of it has not changed since Joseph Cyril Bamford founded the company eight decades ago.
