The chief executive of UK-based machinery firm JCB has stepped down after 18 months in the role.
Matthew Taylor will be replaced by Alan Blake. Blake has occupied various management level positions in the company for twenty years. Meanwhile, the move has triggered various other senior level changes in the company – which includes the appointment of new product and market development managers.
The UK has been particularly hit by the downturn, which has caused the company to look to new markets, such as the Middle East, where it holds the position as the market leader in backhoe loader sales – a product the firm largely invented. Earlier in the year, outgoing CEO Matthew Taylor told PMV: “In the Middle East, the backhoe is the tool of choice. What we are doing is investing in an excavator factory, so that we can bring high quality larger products to the market.”
The management change will be effective January 1.
