Joseph Bamford could shoot, fish, swim, and sail. Bamford paid more than fair wages, which rose regularly, and annual bonuses based on reports of individual worth. In 1967 Bamford stood on a farm cart and handed out personal cheques totalling £250,000. This extraordinary focus in return gave unprecedented levels of workforce flexibility, with the average JCB employee through the strike-dominated 1970s and early 1980s being seven times more productive than the average British manufacturing worker. In 1975 Bamford and his wife Marjorie (née Griffin – married 1941) handed over the business to their two sons, and retired to Switzerland as tax exiles.
Robert Bamford Robert Bamford Robert Bamford (16 June 1883 – 1942) was an English engineer, who with Lionel Walker Birch Martin (15 March 1878– 21 October 1945), founded a company in January 1913 that became Aston Martin. He was born in Lamarsh in Essex, and was the eldest son of Rev Robert Bamford (1854–1898). His grandfather was another Rev Robert Bamford (1825–1893) who was a vicar in Highworth, Wiltshire. His parents married in 1882. His mother remarried after his father's death. His brother was Edward Bamford (1887–1928). Bamford, historically, is a Lancashire surname. He attended a university. In World War I he