JCB has taken a huge departure from its trademark yellow diggers to create a brand new range of machines.

The Rocester-based digger giant has launched a new range of products in a bid to crack the £6.2 billion powered access market.

Engineers at the firm have been developing and engineering a line-up of powered access machines in secret for two years.

By the end of this year, the newly-launched JCB Access business will be making 27 new platforms commercially available for sale.

The first of the new machines sold anywhere in the world has just been delivered to Oxford-based 2 Cousins Powered Access – with hundreds of other orders flooding in from around the world.

JCB launches a new range of access platforms to enter a completely new market
JCB launches a new range of access platforms to enter a completely new market

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “The access market is a truly global market and offers immense opportunities for growth for JCB. It’s a market that is ripe for a new supplier with the ability to offer industry leading, round-the-clock product support.

“JCB’s 770 dealers with 2,200 depots can deliver the back-up that global customers expect.”

The exciting new move is geared to grab a slice of a market where 130,000 units a year are sold – generating an annual revenue of £6.2 billion.

Powered access platforms are a common sight around the world where temporary access is needed for people to work at height, particularly on construction sites.

The new JCB products, which have been designed in-house to meet the needs of rental companies and contractors across the globe, will initially be offered in the UK, France, Germany and North America.

By the end of 2017, the firm’s range of products will include nine electric and three diesel scissor lifts, which can lift to 45ft, five articulating booms, which can reach 81ft and 10 diesel telescopic booms, which can scale 136ft.

JCB makes first sale of new powered access lifts to 2 Cousins. Pictured left to right are 2 Cousins Powered Access MD Jason Prisley and Claudio Checchia, of 2 Cousins Powered Access outside JCB HQ Rocester during official customer handover.
JCB makes first sale of new powered access lifts to 2 Cousins. Pictured left to right are 2 Cousins Powered Access MD Jason Prisley and Claudio Checchia, of 2 Cousins Powered Access outside JCB HQ Rocester during official customer handover.

Jason Prisley, 2 Cousins managing director, said: “The company is under new leadership and we want to make our mark. There is no better way than to write our name in the history books as the first ever JCB Access customer in the world.

“I have run a fleet of JCB telescopic handlers before and I have worked with key members of the JCB Access team before, so I was in no doubt that the quality of new equipment and the level of service would be everything you would expect.

“JCB, like 2 Cousins, simply doesn’t do things by halves – so we had no fear about placing the order without seeing the machines.

“The launch was spectacular and the scissor lifts look first class. We knew we had made a great business decision and I’m confident that this is the first of many deals.”

JCB Access managing director Richard Butler said: “We have been truly overwhelmed by the positive reaction from the industry.

“Enquiries and early sales have soared above expectations and when established major players such as 2 Cousins place immediate orders it fully justifies JCB’s entry into the sector.”