Joseph Bamford He continued to design both boats and diesel engines. Bamford was awarded the honorary degree of a Doctor of Technology from both Loughborough University in 1989 and Keele University in 2000. Bamford died in a London clinic on 1 March 2001. At his death, JCB was the largest privately owned engineering company in Britain, employing 4,500 people and manufacturing 30,000 machines a year in 12 factories on three continents. It had revenues of £850m in 1999, earned from 140 countries. His portraits by Lucinda Douglas-Menzies and Leslie Smithers (whilst he was still the head of his JCB empire) are in
Anthony Bamford National Park), followed by the University of Grenoble, a former university in the city of Grenoble, France. Bamford has been outspoken on the need for the Government to champion manufacturing in the UK and commissioned a report in 2012 on the subject which was sent directly to David Cameron. He was elevated to the House of Lords in August 2013. Bamford expressed an interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars in August 2006, but backed out when he was told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy. Bamford is married to Carole, Lady Bamford, OBE.