Hanson to decide this month on Accrington Brick future

This month is likely to see a decision on whether the historic Accrington Brick factory, owned by Hanson Building Products, will remain open.

Accrington Brick, which supplied bricks for the foundations of New York’s Empire State Building and the Blackpool Tower, was mothballed a year ago when financial crisis caused the industry to grind almost to a halt.

In August the factory was re-opened with a skeleton staff for a trial run after the company received sufficient orders for the plant’s Nori brick to make it worthwhile.

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