Brickmaker to invest £60m in West Midlands plants

Leicestershire brickmaker Ibstock has revealed plans to invest £60m in its Atlas and Alridge plants in the West Midlands.

The ramp up production to 115 million bricks a year at the plans and will add a £12m EBITDA contrbutiona year once fully operational, with the redeveloped Atlas plant expected to be the first net zero carbon brick-manufacturing facility in the UK.

Ibstock first announced its plans for the mothballed Atlas plant in early 2020, but these have mow been revised and expanded.

Joe Hudson, chief executive officer of Ibstock, said: “We’ve made an encouraging start to 2021, supported by robust demand in both the new build housing and RMI markets.”

“With the market outlook now clearer, we are refocusing on growth. Redevelopment of our wire cut brick facilities in the West Midlands will deliver a significant capacity expansion, further demonstrating our leadership in the clay brick market, which is expected to continue its long-term growth over time. The project is another tangible example of our commitment to the net zero carbon journey and provides a great exemplar of British building products manufacturing.”

“We have a number of additional organic investment opportunities under evaluation and expect to update shareholders on these as the year progresses.”