JCB boss Lord Bamford has announced his youngest son, George Bamford, will take the reins of the multi-billion-pound company instead of his eldest son, Joseph, ending years of speculation
The billionaire boss of construction giant JCB has stunned the business world by naming his youngest son as heir and effectively sidelining his eldest.
Lord Anthony Bamford, 80, has confirmed that his third child, George Bamford, will take the reins of the £6.5billion digger empire instead of his older brother Joseph, in a move that ends years of speculation over who would inherit the firm founded in 1945. The Tory and Reform UK donor confirmed that the succession plan is now in place, with George effectively positioned as the future head of the global construction giant.
Joseph Bamford, 48, long seen as the natural successor, is understood to have tried to persuade his father to step aside in what Lord Bamford reportedly viewed as an attempted boardroom coup.
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Instead, George, 45, has now been installed as deputy chairman of JCB and is preparing to take full control of a business that spans 22 factories across four continents and employs around 19,000 people. According to the Telegraph, while the plan has not yet been formally signed off at board level, Lord Bamford’s comments leave little doubt over where the balance of power is heading.
He said: “In terms of us remaining a family business, that is very important, and we do have plans. I’m very lucky and highly privileged to be in charge of this business at the moment. I don’t intend to be forever, I am 80, for heaven’s sake.”
The announcement brings an end to years of behind-the-scenes speculation and simmering tension within one of Britain’s most prominent industrial dynasties. Joseph, known as Jo, had built up extensive experience within the company.
He joined the family firm full-time in 2004 after working in the City, initially managing the JCB Utility Products division before moving into senior roles including head of major contracts. His rise through the business had long been seen as a carefully structured path towards leadership, making the final decision all the more striking.
But George’s trajectory has been very different. As a child he developed an interest in mechanical watches and later founded his own luxury watch business under the Bamford name.
That brand has since expanded into a recognised label in its own right, and he still oversees it while transitioning full-time into JCB. He now works at the company daily and has spent time touring its international manufacturing operations as he prepares to take over the industrial heavyweight.
Joseph, however, has carved out his own reputation as an entrepreneur. He founded hydrogen energy company Ryze Hydrogen and later bought Northern Ireland-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus, helping rescue it from collapse. He was awarded a CBE in 2025 for his work in industry.
Despite that, he appears to have been passed over in favour of his younger brother. In April, Joseph also warned that JCB could be forced to relocate operations to the United States due to inheritance tax pressures on family businesses introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. His comments were made without the public backing of his father, who remains chairman.
Family life has long been closely tied to business and entrepreneurship. Lord Bamford’s wife, Carole Bamford, founded the organic retail chain Daylesford Organic, which later influenced their eldest child, Alice Bamford, to establish her own farm and farm shop in California. Alice, now 50, is also a film producer and author, and is currently mourning the loss of her partner, Ann Eysenring, who died from cancer in March.
The Bamford dynasty has not been without internal tensions in the past. Lord Bamford and his younger brother Mark were previously locked in a dispute in the 1990s over the ownership of a subsidiary, JCB Research, which was used for political donations to the Conservative Party.
Further disputes followed within the wider family after the death of founder Joseph Cyril Bamford in 2001, when his will sparked controversy by leaving a major share of the business to his mistress rather than his wife. There were also legal clashes involving relatives over consultancy payments linked to a failed proposed sale of the company.
