AROUND two-hundred JCB agency employees - including some in Wrexham - are to be handed permanent contracts this summer.

The announcement from the company on Friday, July 22, comes as demand continues to rise for construction and agricultural machinery.

JCB has already offered around 1,300 permanent contracts to agency employees during 2021 and 2022 and increased shop floor starting pay by 8.5 per cent to £11.35 an hour.

READ MORE: Company managing Plas Coch Retail Park issues statement on 'disgraceful' parking fines

JCB Chief Operating Officer Mark Turner welcomed the news of the permanent contracts.

He joined JCB more than 30 years ago as an agency employee himself and rose through the ranks after running JCB manufacturing businesses in the UK and overseas, including India.

He said: "I am thrilled to be able to build on this position by offering permanent contracts to an additional 200 agency employees once we return from the summer break.

"We have great confidence in the future and there are immense opportunities to progress at JCB by joining us as an agency employee.”

In 2022, JCB has increased its workforce by almost 300 people at its 11 UK plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Wrexham, which now employ around 8,000 people.

Demand for JCB machines has reached historic highs this year with many products already sold out for the remainder of the year.