Dr Luke Evans, MP for Bosworth, returned to Forterra brickworks site in Desford for a second tour of the £95 million project.
Meeting with the Chief Executive, Stephen Harrison and Strategic Projects Director, George Stewart, Dr Luke saw how construction of the site has progressed since he first toured the premises in October 2020.
When complete, the factory is set to be the largest and most efficient brick facility in Europe as part of a £95 million project which began in the local area. Once production, which started in September 2019, at the plant commences later this year, Forterra’s brick making capacity will reach approximately 700 million bricks per year.
Forterra, the country’s second largest manufacturer of bricks, say the Desford facility will incorporate ‘state-of-the-art processes to deliver market-leading efficiency and sustainability credentials that minimise the environmental impact of both the plant and its products’.
During the tour Dr Luke was taken into one of the two kilns (pictured below) that are being built on the premises. Forterra state that the kilns, which can reach 1,100 degrees centigrade, will fire up to 180 million bricks per year. This is enough, they say, to build 24,000 family homes and provide much needed support to UK housebuilding.
Dr Luke Evans MP said “I first visited Forterra’s Desford site about 18 months ago and I’m pleased to see how well construction on the facility has come since then. They have put a phenomenal amount of money into the Desford site and the project has brought lots of high-skilled jobs to our area.
“I also talked with Stephen and George about the work Forterra are doing to ‘plug the skills gap’ and encourage people from our area onto apprenticeships and training programmes so they can enter into highly paid jobs having learned valuable skills for the future.”
Stephen Harrison, Chief Executive at Forterra, said “We were delighted to welcome Dr Evans back to see the progress made here at Desford over the past two years.
“As one of Britain’s largest manufacturers of building products, we endeavour to set the benchmark in terms of manufacturing efficiency, output and sustainability. Our new facility will allow us to respond to our customers’ increasing demand for products as the rate of housebuilding continues to accelerate nationwide.”
