JCB boosted by multi-million pound Swedish order

STAFFORDSHIRE excavator manufacturer JCB has boosted an already strong year with a major order from Sweden.

The Rocester firm was appointed by Swedish dealer Söderberg & Haak Maskin to supply 80 machines to help prepare a massive campsite for the 22nd World Scouting Jamboree at Rinkaby.

More than 40,000 scouts from around the world eventually attended the event but before they arrived, the JCB fleet was put to work preparing the infrastructure.

The multi-million pound order comprised a fleet of wheeled loading shovels, telescopic handlers, a backhoe loader, a wheeled excavator and 60 JCB Workmax utility vehicles.

Once the infrastructure was in place, the Workmax vehicles played an important role ferrying goods and people around the site for the duration of the jamboree. Some of the utility vehicles were even converted into makeshift fire engines complete with emergency medical equipment and 12 on-board fire extinguishers.

With the end of the jamboree, the fleet has been put to work dismantling the infrastructure and restoring the land to its appearance prior to the event.

Thomas Svensson, chief executive of Söderberg & Haak Maskin, said: “This was a very successful partnership and all the machines performed very well and helped towards the success of the World Scouting Jamboree.

“The highly visible role of the JCB Workmax machines in particular throughout the jamboree has helped put that product on the map in Sweden and really raised its profile here.”