Thousands of JCB employees are gearing up to mark the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla with a company-wide ‘street party’.
The UK agri-machinery company is treating more than 5,500 employees at all its factories to a two-course celebration lunch next week.
The ‘Big Coronation Lunch’ is being staged at plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham where breaks are being extended to allow the historic occasion to be marked.
King Charles III's coronation will take place on Saturday 6 May at Westminster Abbey in London.
Factory restaurants are being decked out with red, white and blue bunting and balloons ready for classic British cuisine to be served on traditional street party trestle tables.
Employees will tuck into fish and chips, sausage and mash, a special Coronation Chicken pie or enjoy a special afternoon tea. A fruit crumble and trifle will be offered as dessert.
JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said the event - the UK's first coronation in 70 years - was 'momentous' in the country’s history.
He added: "[It is] an opportunity for all of us to come together and mark it as a team in traditional street party style.”
Over the course of the four-day street party, JCB said it would be serving almost one tonne of potatoes, 172 kgs of chicken, 293 kgs of fish, and 125 kgs of sausage.
Sean Tucker, 20, a welder at JCB Cab Systems in Uttoxeter, said he was pleased to see that the food on offer would be traditionally British.
“The Big Coronation Lunches are a fantastic idea – it will be great to get together with my colleagues to celebrate the memorable occasion."
