Property downturn hasn’t hit brickmaker
A YORKSHIRE brick company believes its range of clients is shielding it from the downturn in the property sector.
David Armitage, chairman of the York Handmade Brick Company, said the company had achieved turnover of £1.9m so far in 2008, up on the same time last year.
The brickmaker, based in Alne, near York, has carried out work since the start of the year including providing 70,000 bricks for a house in Ireland, 50,000 bricks for a new building for the University of York St John, restoring an historic Valve House belonging to British Waterways to its former glory, and creating a new walled garden at Burton Constable Hall, near Beverley.
Mr Armitage said: “I don’t want to tempt providence, because these are testing times for Yorkshire’s proud manufacturing sector, in view of the fragile economy and the credit crunch. In addition, the depressed housing market has placed pressure on us.
“However, York Handmade is bearing up well. We are lucky enough to have a wide base of clients, from individual housebuilders to developers, from public sector bodies and public houses to owners of historic homes, and we are well positioned to cope with the downturn in the economy.”
Mr Armitage said investment in broadening its portfolio, including producing more terracotta floor tiles, flowerpots and extruded bricks had boosted performance.
“It is also significant that the self-build housing market, which makes up 35% of our business, has stood up to the sharp downturn in the housing market remarkably well,” he added.
But Mr Armitage warned against complacency and highlighted the number of brickworks closing down across the country as evidence that the York Handmade Brick Company is operating in a fragile market.
