Golden day as tenant celebrates 50th anniversary with £68m order.

JCB chairman Anthony Bamford (left) presents Morris Leslie with a special scale model version of the Platinum Edition backhoe produced to mark the 70th anniversary of the JCB machine.

UK’s Morris Leslie Plant Hire begins its 50th year^th birthday celebrations in style by ordering a huge fleet of new JCB machines worth £68m

All machines will be supplied throughout 2024 in an expression of confidence in the UK building and house building market.

The substantial order, which will be supplied by distributor Scot JCB, includes Loadall telescopic handlers, X-series excavators, mini diggers, compaction rollers and construction dumpers. Significantly, the deal also includes 50 JCB backhoes, one for each year that Morris Leslie Plant Hire has been in business and a product on which the company’s success was built.

JCB chairman Anthony Bamford handed over the keys to one of the backhoes to founder Morris Leslie, a special Platinum Edition machine produced to mark the 70th JCB backhoe.^th birthday Lord Bamford said: “We are very proud of our long association with Morris Leslie Plant Hire. Like many of our clients, the company has grown from very small beginnings to become a force to be reckoned with in the plant hire industry From one family business to another, we wish Morris Leslie Plant Hire a very happy 50^th birthday.”

Morris Leslie said: “Over the years we have purchased more than 7,000 JCB machines, so our success over the past half century is closely intertwined with JCB’s and we look forward to building on our partnership in the years to come.”

Scot JCB Sales Director David Park added: “This significant order for new JCB machines to the company’s 50 machines.^th The anniversary year underlines Morris Leslie’s commitment and confidence in the construction industry.”

Perth-based Morris Leslie has 15 depots across the UK with national coverage and prides itself on having one of the youngest fleets of machines available. The deal comes less than a year after Morris Leslie Plant Hire ordered £87.5m worth of JCB machines. Morris Leslie founded his company on his parents’ farm in 1974 in the Carse of Gowrie, near Perth, where he began buying and selling construction equipment. The company currently has a fleet of more than 5,000 machines.