Prince presents JCB awards

Prince Edward visited digger giant JCB's Staffordshire HQ to present a royal award for lifting overseas trade.

The Earl of Wessex toured the Rocester site, near Uttoxeter and met employees and pupils from Dove First School and Ryecroft Middle School, Rocester.

He made a presentation to Matthew Taylor, JCB's Group Chief Operating Officer and gave a special award to employee Fred Egerton – pictured right – one of nine people with the Loadall business unit, since its formation in 1977. He was given a scale model of a JCB.

Matthew Taylor said: "This unit has a proud record when it comes to Queen's Awards. We won our first for export, in 1984, just seven years after the launch and again in 1996 we won another Queen's Award for Export. Today's presentation marks a hat-trick for this business and honours a 77 per cent growth in overseas sales over three years.

"These achievements would not have been possible without the efforts of all our employees."

The other eight men with the unit since its formation who were given mementoes Kenny Kirkland, Terry Brain, and Frank Rowe, all of Tean; Chris Chell, Eddie Press and Stuart Summers, all of Uttoxeter; John Muirhead of Ipstones and Dave Jones of Cheadle. Queen's Awards for International Trade in 2007 went to other JCB group firms – JCB Compact Products, of Cheadle, and International Transmissions Ltd, Wrexham.