ONE of the first apprentices ever recruited by JCB today marked a double milestone with the company - 50 years’ service and his retirement.
John Smith was just 15 when he first walked through the doors of JCB’s World HQ as a Craft Apprentice on August 31, 1964 - one of nine school leavers who were recruited that year as part of the first ever intake of apprentices.
“I’d originally intended going into the Royal Navy and had my application papers ready”, said John, of Leigh, near Uttoxeter. “But I came home from school one dinnertime and my dad Cecil, who had worked at JCB for five years, told me he had organised an interview at JCB for me and I was to go for that.”
Fifty years on and John has worked in at least eight different roles, including a position as Operations Manager with JCB India in Pune for three years. He is one of only five people ever to have reached the 50 year service milestone with JCB, including Chairman Lord Bamford.
“Fifty years have flown by”, said John. “I can’t quite believe where the time has gone and it is going to feel quite strange not clocking on for work every day. I have enjoyed every minute of my time here. When I first came to work at JCB there were a few hundred people working at just one factory and you knew most people.
“Today, there are factories all over the world and JCB employs around 12,000 people. One thing that hasn’t changed though is the family feel of the company: we are still one big family.”
JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “John is part of a unique group of people at JCB who have served the company for 50 years. On behalf of the company and my family, I wish him a long and happy retirement.”
When John joined JCB in 1964 the company manufactured around 3,000 machines a year and had a turnover of almost £9 million. Today the company makes around 70,000 machines annually and last year turned over £2.68 billion.
1964 was also the year JCB exported its first machine to America. The Beatles were also taking the United States by storm and John was drummer in a band playing paid gigs in Staffordshire.
“My first weekly wage at JCB was £2, 19 shillings and eight pence. I was earning more with my band The Shandells,” he joked.
Now 65, Uttoxeter-born John has worked in the jig and tool department as a design engineer, section leader, design supervisor and chief designer. He was both engineering and business manager at JCB Cab Systems in Rugeley.
When John returned to the UK from his job in India in 2007 he took up the role of Group Manufacturing Engineering Manager, a post that saw him travel extensively to India, North America and China.
He said: “JCB has changed massively since I joined as one of Mr JCB’s first apprentices. He was fantastic and he’d ask how we were getting on. He once got me to make him a device for getting the last drop of toothpaste out of a tube.
“The highlight of my career was going to India. I’ve really enjoyed my job and am grateful for the opportunity to make a good living, travel the world and make so many good friends. I’m a little apprehensive about retirement so after an extended break I do intend to come back part time just to keep my hand in.”
Married with two grown up children, DIY enthusiast John now plans to finish off the garden at the house he built with his wife Dawn, who also works at JCB. He also plans to spend more time with his two grandchildren. John’s daughter Tracy Sampson also works at JCB’s World HQ, running the company’s shop.