Accrington Brick awaits reprieve

BOSSES at the building materials group Hanson will decide later this month whether to keep producing bricks at an historic Accrington factory.

Accrington Brick, which supplied bricks for the foundations of New York’s Empire State Building and the Blackpool Tower, was mothballed a year ago as the financial crisis caused many construction projects to stall and demand fell.

But a skeleton staff went back into the factory in August for a three-month run after Hanson received orders for the famous Nori bricks which are particularly durable due to the nature of the clay in the Accrington area.

A spokesman for parent company Hanson UK said management would make a decision on the factory’s future at the end of the month based on the size of the forward order book.

He said: “We’re going to sit down and review it over the next couple of weeks. The last three months has gone well but what we need to look at is the orders going forward. What’s quite heartening is the number of people in the town who are encouraging anyone building to specify Nori bricks.”

He added: “It’s still very much a skeleton staff. The important thing is it’s still working and still producing.”

Around 80 staff were working at the factory when production stopped last year. Just 14 have been taken on to fulfil specific orders.