Michelmersh Group
MichelmershMichelmershmbhplc.co.ukFloren.beFloren.befloren.beFabSpeedFabSpeedfabspeed.uk
Michelmersh Initiatives
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About Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC

Michelmersh strives to be a well-invested, long term, sustainable and environmentally responsible business, dedicated to delivering quality products.

We are Britain’s Brick Specialists, leaders of traditional hand-pressed architectural terra cotta and Europe’s trusted clay brick manufacturer

Other statistics we’re proud of, include…

Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC Group owns seven market-leading premium brands, Blockleys, Carlton, FabSpeed, Floren.be, Freshfield Lane, Michelmersh and Hathern Terra Cotta. These divisions operate within a fully integrated business, combining the production of premium, precision-made bricks, pavers, special shaped bricks, bespoke Terra Cotta products and prefabricated brick components. The Group also includes a landfill operator, New Acres Limited, and seeks to develop future landfill and development opportunities on ancillary land assets. Michelmersh, remains at the forefront of industry innovation being the first UK clay product manufacturer to offer intuitive Building Information Modelling files, hosted on its dedicated platform bimbricks.com. Michelmersh also conducted the World’s first 100% Hydrogen fired clay brick trials in a feasability study named HyBrick, to complement its innovative decarbonisation strategy.

Sustainability

Michelmersh supports the UK Government pledge to achieve net zero by 2050.

Michelmersh is dedicated to sustainable building solutions that adhere to the most stringent production requirements, using modernised production methods to guarantee high-quality product standards with a low ecological footprint.

Focusing investment and expertise to prioritise the de-carbonisation of clay brick manufacturing, the Group has set ambitious 2030 Sustainability KPIs. Alongside our ESG company-wide objectives, we have already achieved 100% of our electricity provided by renewables from October 2022 and announced our HyBrick project; a global first feasibility trial, amongst a wide variety of other energy and carbon reduction initiatives.

Read why we are leaders in sustainability

Our Brands

The Group’s products can be used in a wide variety of contexts; excelling with sensitive conservation requirements and complementing contemporary designs to form inspiring architecture. With substantial experience in both traditional and modern prestigious schemes, the team offers a research and development service that is yet to be rivalled. We evolve the design alongside your conceptual ideas and onto the bespoke forms and blends that you desire.

Core Values

Michelmersh actively promotes and reinforces its four Core Company Values at the heart of its stakeholders.

Renowned for quality clay products, Michelmersh offers clients a bespoke service, including handmade blending and high standards of quality assurance. Each item is carefully tailored to exact specifications for the perfect finish and lasting durability. The Group’s products combine traditional strength and high achievement of modern standards to ensure that we are building for the future. We are proud of the way in which we are shaping and leading the brick industry.

For outstanding reliability, unparalleled workmanship and high performance that meets any requirement, you have come to the right team. The Group’s timelessly authentic, warm, earthy, natural bricks give character to any build. We ensure that your development will command the character and charm that it deserves when using our products. Our clay units are specified up and down the country, issued for both public and private sectors and across a multitude of profiles, from schools and hospitals to theatres and offices. This is why it is our responsibility to offer a wide cross-section of colours and rich textures to meet all your needs, fulfilling the most stringent of planning requirements. We combine unbeatable quality in volume productions that professionals can rely on, with support and logistics that beat the competition.

Our History

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2022
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Established

Established in 1997, the Company has grown through acquisition and organic growth into a profitable and asset-rich business, producing over 125 million clay bricks and pavers annually. Michelmersh strives to be a well-invested, long-term, sustainable and environmentally responsible business, dedicated to delivering quality products. The Group aims to provide optimum training, security and career progression for all of its employees, whilst acting as a responsible corporate citizen and keeping stakeholder value at the forefront of every decision.
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Dunton Brothers and Michelmersh Brick & Tile

Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC was established.
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Charnwood Forest Brick

Charnwood Forest Brick was acquired.
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Blockleys Brick

Blockleys Brick was acquired.
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Freshfield Lane Brickworks

Freshfield Lane Brickworks was acquired.
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Carlton Brickworks

Carlton Brickworks was acquired.
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Floren.be

Floren.be was acquired.
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2022

FabSpeed was acquired.

ESG Strategy

Michelmersh is a responsible business and holds itself to the highest ethical, sustainable and corporate standards. We are committed to being a responsible company and we operate in accordance with the highest standards of ethical conduct.
Learn about our strategy

Environmental

The Michelmersh Group has over 500 acres of land, encouraging the re-introduction of habitats and wildlife to its former quarry sites, to allow nature reserves, lakes and natural spaces to flourish. Its UK and European plants adhere to strict environmental codes of practice. With well-maintained clay resources which are stringently operated in cohesion with our surroundings, the Group shows its commitment to energy efficiency and carbon emission reductions.

Social

The Group aims to provide optimum training, security and career progression for all of its employees, whilst acting as a responsible corporate citizen and keeping stakeholder value at the forefront of every decision. We encourage the development of a strong mental health support netwrok of first aiders and we ensure the highest standard so Health & Safety compliance and proactive reporting.

Governance

The Directors acknowledge the importance of high standards of corporate governance and, given the Company’s size and the constitution of the Board, have developed its procedures to comply with the principles set out in the Quoted Companies Alliance Corporate Governance Code 2018 (QCA Code) and alignment with best practice wherever possible.

Our People

Design advise, superb interpretations and first-rate customer service are given to each and every project. We are committed to providing the finest level of support with all of our premium products, designed to perform as beautifully as they look, enhancing the built environment for generations to come.

The Group aims to provide training, security and career progression for all of its employees, whilst acting as a responsible corporate citizen and keeping stakeholder value at the forefront of every decision.

View our people

Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC holds the following certification

Our Affiliations

Michelmersh is continuously investing in its online proposition, quality of services, assurance of its high Health & Safety standards, and its support or partnership of recognised organisations which give assurance and a high level of trust to our valued customers.

Contact our experts
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Our Process

Michelmersh produces over 125 million bricks a year from its six manufacturing plants, five of which are based in the UK, while the sixth is based in Belgium. Each facility produces different brick types with varying colours, styles and textures. Each range of bricks is produced to an incredibly high standard to ensure that the end consumer receives the best quality products possible.

  • Obtaining & Mixing
    photo of machinery at a quarry
    Local Sources
    Each Michelmersh factory uses clay from its local quarry, which is never more than 2.5km away. Clay is the most important part of the brick, it determines the properties, quality and look of the finished product and brick plants are usually established where you find an abundance of the right clay. Michelmersh’s factories use two different types of manufacturing process, soft mud and stiff mud or extruded. The basic recipe for brickmaking includes clay, sand and water, mixed together with a substance that speeds up the firing process, in tried and tested proportions to ensure the bricks are solid, strong, beautiful and durable.
    man overseeing manufacturing process
    Mixing
    The process of mixing the different clays together and adding water is part of the clay’s preparation and ensures the mixture is the desired consistency. Once the mixture is perfect it makes its way through crushers and rollers, smoothing the mixture and more water is added where needed. The clay mixture is now ready. In a soft mud process the mixture is placed into moulds, either by hand or using a machine, turned out, dried and fired. Bricks made this way contain lots of water and therefore these bricks undergo a drying process to remove most of the water before being fired, this produces a brick called a ‘Stock Brick’.
  • Surveying & Moulding
    Surveying
    If the product destined is architectural terra cotta or faience, then incredibly detailed shop drawings are made up which contain the information required to manufacture the block. Detailed measurements and profiles are taken from each unit type to be replaced.
    photo of a man in ear defenders working at machine
    Moulding
    A wide variety of our bricks are produced by the mixture being pushed through a die (a brick-shaped hole) and then cut into brick pieces using wires. Bricks produced in this fashion are called “Extruded” or “Wirecut”. The texture on the outside of bricks produced like this can be changed by interchanging the dies during the extrusion process.
    photo of Hathern Terra Cotta being manufactured
    Crafting Models
    If the clay is destined for intricate moulds, our design team will create specialized zinc templates to create the required profile. The clay used in these projects is densely pressed into every corner of the mould and then left for a period until the clay has semi-dried. Once the mould is removed, each element is hand sanded and checked for blemishes, which are then delicately removed.
  • Firing & Drying
    photo of a man in ear defenders measuring a brick
    Michelmersh Bricks
    At Michelmersh bricks are fired using one of two different processes, either in a kiln or using a more traditional method of clamp-firing. Bricks are fired using gas to a temperature of up to 1200°C. There are lots of different types of kilns and one of the most popular is a continuously fired tunnel kiln in which the bricks pass through, very slowly, on a continuous conveyor belt with bricks entering and being dried at one end, while at the other end they are being fired.
    photo of traditional hand pressed architectural Hathern Terra Cotta
    Terra Cotta and Faience Firing
    These blocks are loaded onto kiln cars and wheeled into the kiln. They are then fired to 1170 degrees C and the firing cycle lasts for 4 days. Once fired the units are checked for faults and dimensional tolerances.
    photo of traditional hand pressed architectural Hathern Terra Cotta
    Drying Terra Cotta & Faience
    Terra cotta and faience units are left to air dry and pallets for days after their removal from the moulds. Eventually, they are moved into mechanical dryers which remove the remaining moisture over a 5-day operating cycle. If the blocks are to be Architectural Faience, they require glazing before being loaded into the kiln. Metal Oxide glazes are sprayed onto the surface of the block in layers.
    photo of a Floren brick
    Vitrification
    The most important stage of the firing process is called “vitrification” which refers to the transformation of the raw materials into brittle, non-crystalline glass – the qualities that give a brick its incredible strength and durability. As vitrification continues, the porosity of the fired product becomes lower, the raw materials are glued together, and its final colour becomes apparent.
  • Distribution & Shipping
    Michelmersh Logistics
    Packaging & Distribution
    After this, the bricks are packed by hand or by robots and placed into storage until they are ready to be distributed either into stockists yards or delivered directly to site. Bricks’ resurgence as an environmentally conscious choice has maintained its popularity. Michelmersh is focused on reducing single-use-plastics and puts a great deal of effort into the quality of its packaging processes. Its own delivery trucks are accredited to high FORS Health & Safety standards.
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Michelmersh Group
MichelmershMichelmershmbhplc.co.ukFloren.beFloren.befloren.beFabSpeedFabSpeedfabspeed.uk
Michelmersh Initiatives
BIM BricksBIM Bricksbimbricks.comSustainable BricksSustainable Brickssustainablebrick.com