Building Britain: Ibstock ready to play their part in getting Britain building again

After Labour’s landslide win in July’s General Election, incumbent Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves – the first woman to hold that office – set out an ambitious programme of activity.

Among the key take-outs from Reeves’ was a pledge to build 1.5 million new homes across the next five years – supercharging house building to levels not seen in the UK since the 1950s.

To facilitate this building boom, Reeves has further outlined plans to totally overhaul the current planning regulations, including reintroducing mandatory housebuilding targets, reviewing greenbelt boundaries and employing 300 more planning officers across local authorities nationwide.

Jo Hodge, Director for Culture, Sustainability and Social for the leading building products manufacturer Ibstock, has welcomed the pledges. Jo says: “The construction sector is the beating heart of the UK economy, with the performance of the industry indelibly tied to the wider economic health of the country.

“The policies outlined in Rachel Reeves’ first address as Chancellor of the Exchequer is a welcome sign that the construction industry is being placed at the heart of the new government’s agenda, and that they are committed to ensuring Britain gets back to building.

“This is music to our ears here at Ibstock, as we are more than ready to help the UK’s construction sector meet these targets.

“Central to that is our continued investment in UK manufacturing, across our nationwide network of facilities. Thanks to our extensive network, we are proud that our customers are never too far away from one of our factories – wherever they’re based in the country. Our factories are staffed with skilled local people, who use locally sourced materials to manufacture building products that go on to build local communities.

“As part of this, we have made significant investment into our estate, including major upgrades to two of our factories in the West Midlands – our Aldridge and Atlas brick factories. Through this investment, we have identified Atlas as our pathfinder facility, meaning it will play a leading role in Ibstock’s journey to net zero. Upon completion, Atlas will produce our lowest carbon bricks, circa 50% lower than the previous factory. And not only that, we are proud to be bringing our first Carbon Neutral certified bricks to market as part of the range.

“Further north, we are also invested heavily in redeveloping our Nostell factory, in Yorkshire focusing on brick slips. Here, we’re installing technology that is the first of its kind for the UK, ensuring we can supply the country’s fast growing need for more modern methods of construction which complement traditional methods. This investment will prove crucial in helping meet the target for 1.5m homes across the next five years.

“Ultimately, we believe it’s an exciting time to be a part of UK construction and we are ready to play our part in getting Britain building again.”

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