JCB's longest-serving employees were honoured at a special lunch.

JCB shopfloor employees have voted to accept a 2.6% pay rise for 2014 as part of a newly agreed three-year wage deal.

Around 3,200 employees received the pay rise from 1 January after GMB (Britain's general trade union) members voted for the pay proposal in December 2013.

The increase is linked to November's Retail Price Index (RPI), which was announced on 17 December. Increases in 2015 and 2016 will also be linked to those years' respective November RPI figures.

On 31 December, a three-and-a-half year pay deal agreed in 2010, which was the longest pay deal ever agreed at JCB, expired. It covered employees at JCB's factories in Rocester, Uttoxeter, Cheadle, Rugeley, Wrexham and Foston, Derbyshire.

CEO designate Graeme Macdonald says the agreement "gives us the stability and forward visibility we need to plan ahead as we gear up to face the challenges and opportunities we will face in 2014 and beyond".

The new deal comes on the back of an announcement that JCB will invest GBP150 million (USD246 million) in the next five years to create 2,500 jobs, expanding its UK manufacturing operations.

GMB works convenor Gordon Richardson says a three-year pay deal gives the employees some guarantees for the future.

"This year's team of GMB negotiators for the group has achieved an excellent outcome under some very tough bargaining conditions. The deal compares very favourably to those being struck at other companies, both regionally and in the UK; but our members have worked very hard over the term of the last deal and the outcome of the latest negotiations is a reflection on their efforts."

Separately, long-serving JCB employees who have clocked up a combined 1,500 years' service had their dedication honoured at a celebration lunch last month.

The 26 people were invited to a special lunch at JCB world headquarters in Rocester for everyone who had served the company for 40 years or more. Between them, the long-serving employees had worked for over 13 million hours over the past five decades.

During the time the long-serving employees have spent with JCB, the firm has grown from one factory and several hundred people to become the world's third-largest construction equipment maker, with 22 global plants and 11,000 employees around the world.

Among those who attended was Michael Collins who started out as an apprentice in research and development in July 1972.

Collins, 56, of Rugeley, after-market sales manager at JCB World Parts Centre in Uttoxeter, says: "It goes to show how much you think of a company when you stick around for so long. JCB has always looked after its staff and helped us to develop our skills in order to further our careers."