Brick maker reveals plan for £50m investment in new factory in Yorkshire
Ibstock, a UK manufacturer of clay bricks and concrete products, is to make a £50m investment to create the UK’s first automated brick slips factory in Nostell, West Yorkshire.
Brick slips are specially manufactured tiles which when installed have the appearance, colour and texture of a real clay brick wall.
They are designed to provide a durable, safe and energy efficient alternative to other cladding solutions. The UK market for brick slips is significant – with annual volumes of about 120 million slips – and is growing fast.
Ibstock explains the addition of a significant brick slip capability will be highly complementary to its existing clay brick business and the investment will enable it to take a leadership position in the market, significantly increasing its presence in the fast growing mid and high-rise construction sectors.
The factory is the launch project of the company’s new business unit, “Ibstock Futures” which will focus specifically on the development of technologies, products and solutions that are aligned to the two key trends shaping the construction sector: sustainability and the industrialisation of construction processes.
The planned capital investment will provide capacity for up to 60 million brick slips per annum.
An initial investment of around £38m, providing capacity to produce 30 million brick slips, will be spread evenly across 2022 and 2023, with the factory commissioning in late 2023.
The second phase of investment is expected to be made shortly thereafter as additional capacity is required.
EBITDA from the initial investment is expected to be at least £10m per annum once the plant is operating at expected capacity levels from 2025.
The factory will be constructed within the existing footprint of the Group’s Nostell facility, which operated as a brick factory until its closure in 2020.
Ibstock says the facility will benefit from significant adjacent clay reserves and established infrastructure, and is well situated within the heartland of its anticipated key markets.
Joe Hudson
Joe Hudson, Ibstock’s chief executive officer, said: “The launch of Ibstock Futures and our initial £50m investment in our Nostell facility in West Yorkshire is not only an important strategic development for the Group – it is excellent news for British manufacturing and region, too.
“Once operational, the Nostell facility will be a beacon of advanced manufacturing excellence and sustainability.
“We have made ambitious commitments on our Sustainability Roadmap to 2025 – and this announcement underpins our ambitions.”
“Our plans for Nostell will be a first for the UK. Not only will this investment enable us to take a leadership position in this fast-growing market, it offers us a strong foundation for a pipeline of growth initiatives we have in development for Ibstock Futures.
“We are all very excited about the potential this new business has to accelerate growth in the years ahead.”
A planning application process for the factory has begun, and construction on the site is expected to start during the first quarter of 2022.
The factory will manufacture a wide range of different brick slip types and associated systems, and will incorporate the latest manufacturing technology to deliver a large reduction in carbon compared to both imported and domestically cut slips.
