Handed JCB in 1975, Anthony Bamford built the digger maker into a £6.5bn world leader.

Joseph Cyril Bamford founded JCB in 1945 and ran it for 30 years before retiring in 1975 to let 'younger management show its strengths', handing the company to his son Anthony, who had joined on the shopfloor in 1964.

Anthony's first major decision was vertical integration — starting with an axle factory in Wales in 1978, later adding transmissions, cylinders and engines — giving JCB control over its core technology.

His most consequential bet was opening JCB's first overseas plant in India in 1979, when few companies would go there; India became the company's single largest market, employing over 7,000 people.

Since 1975 JCB has gone from one Staffordshire factory with £43m turnover to 22 plants worldwide, over 19,000 employees and record 2023 results: £6.5bn turnover and £805.8m profit before tax.

JCB grew from a £43m one-factory operation to 22 plants, over 300 products and £6.5bn turnover in 2023, with India its biggest market.

The father stepped aside while the heir was still young enough to build.

Vertical integration gave JCB technological control instead of supplier dependence.

India's early entry created a template later repeated in Brazil, the US and China.

A family owner kept a long-term horizon that listed rivals could not match.

A succession pays off when the heir makes his own bets: in-house components and an early India entry compounded for nearly five decades.

JCB stayed family-owned and British-based, with 11 UK factories exporting over 75% of production; the company is now developing hydrogen combustion engines. The handover proved that a founder's exit, done early and decisively, can be the start of a company's best decades rather than its decline.