Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Brick manufacturer Wienerberger is to significantly expand its manufacturing output.
The company will re-boot manufacturing at its mothballed factories at Hartlebury and Ewhurst, which will increase its brick capacity by 200 million bricks up to January 2015, creating around 120 new jobs across the UK.
Wienerberger will also invest in technology upgrades, adding shifts and new jobs throughout its UK operations, and importing from the continent.
Harald Schwarzmayr, managing director, said: “This capacity increase shows our absolute commitment to ensuring that enough new housing is built to meet the requirements of the market.
“The UK needs a minimum of 200,000 new homes to be built each year, approximately 35,000 more than will be started in 2014. With our capacity increases equating to approximately 25,000 homes each year, Wienerberger is capable of manufacturing the core material for more than 70% of that extra housing requirement needed.
“With our broad construction product portfolio catering for the entire building envelope (covering wall, roof and paving solutions) we believe we can make a strong contribution to solving the housing crisis, and of course we will ensure that we continue to offer our customers unmatched manufacturing service and a roadmap through sustainable construction with a fabric first approach.”
