Europe’s biggest, most efficient brick factory officially opens

The largest and most efficient brick factory in Europe, Forterra’s new Desford factory in Leicestershire, has officially opened. The launch ceremony, led by Conservative MP for Bosworth Dr Luke Evans, showcased the factory’s advanced efficiency, productivity and sustainability credentials to industry experts, journalists and Forterra customers.

With a total investment of around £95 million, the new factory has been commissioned to grow capacity, improve cost efficiency, and boost sustainability.

Once at full capacity, the Desford factory will be able to manufacture 180 million bricks per annum, enough to produce 25,000 new homes and provide customers with an additional 120 million domestically produced bricks compared to the old factory’s previous output. On a company-wide scale this increase in brick production capacity represents a growth of around 22%.

The new factory incorporates state-of-the-art innovations with sustainability mechanisms, robotics hardware, and advanced packaging solutions, which streamline its production processes to be as efficient and sustainable as possible while satisfying the ongoing demands of customers. As a result of these changes, the bricks produced at Desford will have a carbon footprint approximately 25% lower than those from the old factory.

Dr Luke Evans, who has visited the factory numerous times during the course of its development, unveiled Desford’s official plaque at the launch ceremony and delivered a speech to mark the occasion, congratulating Forterra on its commitment to Britain’s manufacturing industry.

Neil Ash, CEO of Forterra, said: “We are thrilled to announce the opening of the Desford factory, which represents a significant milestone for Forterra. This new factory’s impressive production capacity demonstrates our commitment to meeting the ongoing demands of the housing sector in our mission to Keep Britain Building.

“At the same time, our innovations at Desford have streamlined our operations to ensure that our production is as efficient and sustainable as possible, so that we can satisfy customer demand whilst still being on course to meet our ambitious ESG targets.”

“Indeed, the Desford factory is the latest in a series of investments and developments Forterra has made over the past year towards becoming more sustainable and efficient, including a solar farm, a new eco-fleet of trucks, and new packaging solutions which place us a step closer to achieving our goal of attaining a 50% reduction in single-use plastics by 2025.

“We’re thrilled to open the biggest, most efficient brick factory in Europe, and look forward to Desford’s productive future.”