As demand soars for new plant total lending has broken through the £1bn barrier.

To celebrate the milestone JCB Finance’s 100 staff are being treated to a weekend away for two on the company.

JCB Finance MD Paul Jennings said: “To reach £1bn in balances is an amazing achievement. It’s also a very good indicator that confidence levels in our sector remain resilient.”

The finance operation was set up in 1970 and has expanded massively from humble beginnings.

JCB Finance has facilitated the purchase of more than 250,000 machines over the past 49 years, lending more than £13bn to UK businesses to help them grow and invest.

Alan Wilson, director of the civil engineering and haulage contractor L & W Wilson (Endmoor), has used JCB Finance to purchase its machines since the 1980s.

He said: “During the recession JCB Finance was one of the few companies that you could rely on to support your business.

“Then, when some customers weren’t paying on time, you needed to be able to raise finance to guarantee cash flow.

“The banks were reluctant to lend beyond what you had but JCB was prepared to refinance other plant so that we could raise cash at a competitive rate. Quite simply, JCB supported British business at a time when others would not.”

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “When JCB Finance was founded in 1970 JCB manufactured just over 4,000 machines and even then there was a very real need from our customers for help with finance.”

“The growth of JCB Finance has mirrored the growth of JCB and our success is very much intertwined; JCB’s development and market leadership in the UK over many decades simply would not have been possible without JCB Finance.”