JCB’s June hangs up on switchboard role after 42 years’ service

JCB switchboard supervisor June Wood today answered her final call for the company as she retired after more than four decades’ service.

June, who celebrated her 64th birthday yesterday (March 30th), first joined JCB as a 16-year-old copy typist in April 1963 and went on to hold a number of other jobs including one at JCB’s training school and another as a Telex operator.

In 1975 she was engaged as a switchboard operator – a position she has held ever since. She became Switchboard Supervisor in 1984. With breaks to have her two children, Karen, 45 and Daren, 42, June has amassed a total service of around 42 years, making her one of the longest serving employees in the history of JCB.

Group HR Director Joanne McAdam said: “After more than 35 years on the switchboard, June has one of the most instantly recognisable voices at JCB. She is going to be sorely missed and we wish her a long and happy retirement.”

She said: “A lot has changed over the years as JCB has expanded. From my own point of view, we experienced a considerable rise in the number of calls. At its peak, around eight years ago, there were 400 calls an hour. Now, because of email and other ways of communicating, that number has fallen but is still significant.”

She added: “You have to know the company inside out so you can put callers through quickly and accurately.”

And June admits her job has enabled her to speak to a number of celebrities, VIPs and prominent business people – although she won’t name names… “Another big part of the job is being very discreet,” she explained.

One of her golden moments is when she was chosen to have lunch with The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh when the royal couple visited JCB to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 1995.

Grandmother-of-three June, of Uttoxeter, plans to visit Australia, New Zealand and the Far East with her partner Fred, 64. “They are places you can’t really see in just a couple of weeks, so I am looking forward to having time to see them,” she added.

Picture caption: Signing off with a laugh....June Wood (right) pictured with her switchboard colleagues Hazel Smith (left) and Julie Cook as she bowed out from JCB after 42 years' service.