DIGGER-MAKER JCB is celebrating record results. Sales at the Rocester-based company soared to £2.75 billion in 2011, which was up 37 per cent from £2 billion the year before and the highest level in its 66-year history. ​ Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation also reached a record high at £355 million, which was up from £235 million in 2010. And bosses revealed JCB now employs 10,500 people worldwide and 6,100 in the UK; more than it has ever done before. A total of 5,500 of those employees work in Staffordshire, 500 more than before the recession began. And the firm is looking to fill another 100 engineering vacancies across its UK factories in Rocester, Uttoxeter, Cheadle, Rugeley, Derby and Wrexham. Directors hailed the efforts of JCB's workers to help it bounce back from the "dark days" of the recession, which saw it shed about 1,800 employees. Chief executive Alan Blake said: "We are very proud of these results, they are really good news for JCB and the area." Chief operating officer Graeme Macdonald added: "We have got some great employees here, and the results are a reflection of the whole team, they have done a fantastic job." JCB sold 69,100 machines worldwide last year, up from 51,600 in 2010 and just shy of its 2007 record when it sold more than 72,000. Directors revealed the results ahead of an appearance at the Intermat construction equipment trade show in Paris today, where they will be unveiling a record 66 new products. The firm said it is continuing to invest in manufacturing both in the UK and abroad. It is planning to spend £3 million on a new machining centre for backhoe loaders at Rocester and its new £63 million factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is nearing completion. Staffordshire Moorlands MP Karen Bradley said: "When JCB is doing well, the whole area thrives, so this is great news. "Back in 2008 when we really started feeling the impact of the credit crunch I visited a lot of local businesses that rely on JCB because they supply them. "JCB does great, British-made products and one of the great things about them is that they will use local suppliers wherever possible." JCB is the world's third-largest construction equipment manufacturer and last year it maintained its position as the number one manufacturer of backhoe loaders and telescopic handlers. Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford, pictured, said: "This record financial performance has been delivered on the back of very strong growth in both traditional markets and the emerging economies. "We are well placed to seize new opportunities for growth."

Tax experts estimate that £180m of annual refunds could be going unclaimed by construction workers. Research by tax refund specialist RIFT found that up to 518,650 permanent construction employees could be eligible for money back on travel between temporary workplaces. The company said that PAYE construction operatives like labourers, ground workers and brick layers are failing to claim these expenses back unlike self-employed workers who deduct travel expenses as part of their annual self-assessment tax returns. Jan Post, Managing Director of RIFT, said: “It’s a national scandal that thousands of hard working people are missing out on tax refunds that are rightfully theirs while some of the richest people have been handed a tax cut in the recent Budget announcement. “We estimate that there could be as much as £180 million pounds floating around HMRC that could be putting food on peoples’ tables who aren’t earning sky high salaries.” Derek Flowers, a construction worker from Deal in Kent, said: “Money is tight at the moment, and we should be able to get back any tax that we are entitled too. It’s galling to read about the rich paying a smaller proportion of their income in tax than I do when they’re earning millions.”