JCB reopens factory to help with ventilator production

JCB has reopened its Staffordshire factory to start making ventiators for the Governmemt.

Some 50 staff have been called in from furlough to start manufacturing steel housing for the ventilators which are being made by Dyson. The factory has been closed in 18 March.

It is thought that mass production of the housing at JCB’s Uttoxeter plant could start within days.

JCB chairman Lord Bamford said: “When we were approached by the Prime Minister we were determined, as a British company, to help in any way we could.

“This project has gone from design to production in just a matter of days and I am delighted that we have been able to deploy the skills of our talented engineering, design and fabrication teams so quickly at a time of national crisis.

“This is also a global crisis, of course, and we will naturally help with the production of more housings if these ventilators are eventually required by other countries.”