A strong year for Staffordshire-based JCB (www.jcb.com) resulted in the company giving staff their biggest Christmas bonus for more than a decade.

Around 7,200 employees at JCB’s 11 plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham received an extra £1,000 in their pay packets — the same level of Christmas bonus as 2017.

The record-equalling payout came in a year that saw JCB machine production reach a 73-year high and another 1,500 people recruited (this includes 550 agency employees awarded permanent contracts).

Company chairman Lord Bamford said: “JCB has had a very successful year, and I am delighted that we were able to award a substantial Christmas bonus to thank our employees for their contribution.

"There are many parallels between JCB and the British economy at the moment: both are doing very well indeed, and both have record levels of employment. What’s more, the signs remain extremely encouraging for 2019, with many reasons to remain positive for the future.”

During 2018, JCB launched its brand-new range of X-Series excavators and began work on a new £50 million UK factory at Uttoxeter that will build cabs for its machines.

The company also unveiled its first electric digger — a 1.8 tonne mini-excavator that can be charged from a 230-volt domestic supply.