Investing in our future
We are approaching the end of our current £140m programme of capital investment, supporting the innovation, efficiency and growth of our business. Significant investment projects at Desford, Wilnecote and Accrington, the first of which is complete with the latter two expected to commission in 2024, will help us to deliver future growth while at the same time improve our sustainability and efficiency.
Desford factory
The £95-million project to transform our Desford plant into Europe’s largest and most efficient brick factory is now complete.
Core to the investment is:
- Minimising the environmental impact of brick production
The new facility incorporates state-of-the-art processes to deliver market-leading efficiency and sustainability credentials that minimise the environmental impact of both the plant and its products.
At the heart of the plant’s efficiency will be two new kilns using cutting-edge technology to reduce energy consumption and emissions. They will also allow Forterra the flexibility to adjust output in line with demand.
- Increase in Forterra’s brick production capacity by 22% to support Britain’s housebuilders
This most modern of plants can produce a variety of red and buff bricks to support Britain’s residential construction needs.
The factory has capacity to produce 180 million bricks per year (a doubling of its previous capacity) – that’s enough bricks to build 24,000 average family-sized homes.
£30 Million Wilnecote Factory
We are significantly upgrading our Wilnecote factory in Staffordshire with a £30-million investment.
This investment will:
- Improve our customer offer
The modernised facility will enable us to produce a wider range of high specification products, offering architects and specifiers greater flexibility in their choice of shape, size, colour and finish of bricks. It will also provide us with the capacity to produce a greater number of the famous Staffordshire blue bricks.
- Increase efficiency
The refreshed facility will include the latest kiln and manufacturing technologies. As well as greatly increasing efficiency, they will enable us to introduce the flexibility required to produce the wider range of sizes and colours of bricks that we know the market is looking for.
- Increase production capacity by approximately 20%
This investment will add significant capacity to our Wilnecote factory, increasing its capacity by c.20%.
The Wilnecote factory will be recommissioned at the end of 2024.
Accrington Factory
We are investing £12 million in developing a brick slip manufacturing facility at our Accrington factory that will run alongside the existing brick manufacturing works.
The investment will:
- Facilitate the automated manufacture of 48 million brick slips per annum, helping us to meet increasing market demand
The UK market for brick slips is currently estimated to be around 120 million units annually, with significant growth expected to be driven through growth of the modular construction market along with growing demand for fire-safe façade solutions suitable for use in high rise construction.
Because they are lighter in weight than standard bricks, brick slips offer a solution that enables structures, that would not normally be finished in brick, to benefit from the beautiful, sustainable, durable and fire-safe façade that only clay brick can offer.
Our purpose-manufactured brick slips will also complement our SureBrick mechanically fixed façade solution.
- Eliminate wastage associated with cutting standard bricks to make brick slips
Currently, many brick slips are cut from traditional bricks, which can produce significant wastage. In developing our own brick slip manufacturing facility, not only will we reduce this wastage, but we will also reduce raw material and energy usage relative to the manufacture of traditional bricks.
We expect to be manufacturing brick slips from late 2023.
