IN Brief:
- Michelmersh expects Charnwood operations to conclude by the end of May as UK brick despatches remain under pressure.
- The company is expanding prefabricated production at Romsey, adding capacity across all prefabricated product lines.
- Weak project starts, lower new orders, and cost pressure continue to challenge heavy-side construction materials planning.
Michelmersh Brick Holdings will wind down operations at its Charnwood brick site by the end of May, as the specialist manufacturer reshapes capacity around weaker and less predictable construction demand.
The company said order intake has continued to run ahead of manufacturing capacity so far this year, supporting its forward order book. Despatch timing remains more difficult, however, with low consumer confidence and uncertainty around construction project commencement dates affecting when bricks and prefabricated products are called off.
Across the wider UK market, Michelmersh said industry brick despatches in the first quarter of 2026 were broadly 10% lower than in the same period last year. The company has continued to monitor end-market demand closely, with production capacity being adjusted to reflect the uneven pace of construction activity.
At Romsey, where brickmaking was paused earlier in the year before manufacturing recommenced at the start of May, Michelmersh said customer supply was not interrupted because of existing inventory. The Hampshire site has also become more important to the group’s prefabricated production strategy, following the establishment of prefabricated manufacturing there last summer.
That operation is now being expanded to include all prefabricated production lines. As the group concentrates that capacity at Romsey, operations at Charnwood are expected to conclude by the end of May, with the freehold site placed under strategic review.
Charnwood has long roots in UK brickmaking. The site traces its origins to Charnwood Forest Brick, established in 1887, and became part of Michelmersh in 1999. Its closure brings an end to a Leicestershire manufacturing operation that has served traditional brick markets for more than a century.
Although the site decision is specific to Michelmersh’s operating footprint, it reflects a broader pressure across heavy-side construction materials. Brickmaking depends on stable production runs, reliable energy planning, transport availability, merchant demand, and predictable site call-offs. When demand exists on paper but project starts remain volatile, manufacturers are forced to manage capacity around uncertainty rather than volume alone.
Department for Business and Trade data shows seasonally adjusted brick deliveries in Great Britain fell 3.6% in March 2026 compared with March 2025, while remaining 29.0% below March 2019 levels. Brick imports reached 352 million units in 2025, up 11.4% on the previous year, showing that domestic producers are operating in a market where demand weakness, import competition, and cost exposure are all moving at once.
Input costs continue to shape that operating environment. Forterra’s decision to introduce June surcharges on selected concrete products and bricks underlined the continuing effect of diesel, gas, electricity, and transport costs on heavy-side materials, even as parts of the construction pipeline remain subdued.
The demand picture is also uneven across construction. ONS figures show total construction output grew by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter, but repair and maintenance carried the increase while new work fell 1.9%. Total construction new orders fell 10.5% over the same period, with private commercial work and infrastructure accounting for much of the quarterly decline.
Housing remains the central pressure point for brick producers. Building control data for England shows annual new-build starts rose in the year to September 2025, but completions fell, leaving the market with a still-fragile route from planning consent to finished homes. Planning approvals have also weakened, with the Home Builders Federation reporting a sharp year-on-year fall in residential units approved in Great Britain during the third quarter of 2025.
The same split between future opportunity and near-term caution has been visible across project data. Glenigan’s latest construction review pointed to weaker starts and detailed approvals despite some resilience in contract awards, leaving product manufacturers to plan around a pipeline that does not yet translate cleanly into site activity.
For brick manufacturers, that distinction is commercially important. Awards and policy targets can suggest future demand, but factories need firmer visibility over when projects will move onto site, when materials will be needed, and how stock should be held. Kilns, labour, inventory, and distribution cannot be recalibrated as easily as a procurement forecast.
Michelmersh said it still expects to deliver performance in line with full-year expectations, helped by its forward order book and operational adjustments. The Charnwood wind-down nonetheless shows how weaker despatches and unpredictable project starts are reaching beyond contractors and developers into the manufacturing base that supports housebuilding.
If housing delivery is to recover at the scale being targeted, materials producers will need a steadier flow of buildable projects, clearer call-off schedules, and enough confidence to sustain capacity through the cycle. Without that, more production decisions will be made around volatility rather than long-term demand.
