Demolition work at former JCB factory gets underway

JCB tracked excavators helping to demolish company’s former Cecilly Mills factory in Cheadle

DEMOLITION work is underway at a former JCB factory which manufactured the company’s famous yellow machines for almost 35 years. The company bought the Cecilly Mills plant in Cheadle – a former a silk ribbon and cloth badge manufacturing site - in 1982. Production at the plant ceased last year when manufacturing was re-located to JCB’s purpose-built factories in Cheadle.

Work has started to demolish six buildings on the five-acre site and the project is set to finish next month, with the help of a fleet of JCB tracked excavators, including the 22-tonne JS220. 

The old plant was initially home to the JCB Special Products team, which produced innovative and commercial machinery. At one point, it was also the base for JCB Landpower, producers of the famous Fastrac tractor. Later, both the compact 1CX backhoe loader and the JCB Teletruk telescopic forklift were manufactured at the Cecilly Mills factory.

A JCB spokesman said: ‘The demolition work on the former Cecilly Mills site is progressing well and is on schedule to finish at the end of March.’

Jim Edwards, former managing director of JCB’s Special Products division, added: ‘Cecilly Mills had a really unique feel to it. I have a great affinity with the place because it was where we started out on Special Products. We all worked in close quarters and there was a great camaraderie among the team. Still, time has to move on and while it is a shame on one hand, JCB production needs to be carried out in the best and most modern factory settings.’