British brickmaker closes its 139-year-old factory after house building collapsed across country

Published: 10:18, 22 May 2026 | Updated: 10:27, 22 May 2026 A British brickmaker has closed its 139-year-old factory blaming a collapse in house building across the country. Michelmersh Brick Holdings' Charnwood Plant, in the Leicestershire market town Shepshed, has been building homes with traditional handmade red bricks since the Victorian era.  However, following a slump in demand and 'a lack of confidence' among consumers, the firm has announced the factory will close down as it prepares to consolidate its manufacturing operations at its other factory in Romsey, Hampshire. Michelmersh said the closure will result in 28 job losses and the site might be put up for sale.   It comes as house building figures plummeted to a 12-year low last autumn despite one of Labour's key manifesto pledges promised to deliver 1.5million new homes by 2030. On top of this, builders across the country have started to scale back development plans due to rising costs following the war in Iran. The impact of war is becoming more and more apparent in the construction industry with Michelmersh reporting a 10 per cent dip in demand for bricks in the first three months of 2026 compared to last year.     To tackle surging costs, the construction industry is looking to use more timber if bricks and other traditional heavy materials become too expensive. The entrance to Michelmersh Brick Holdings' Charnwood Plant. The site based in the Leicestershire market town Shepshed has been building homes with traditional handmade red bricks since the Victorian era Charnwood produces three million bricks a year however Michelmarsh has now announced the site will close down as it prepares to consolidate its manufacturing operations at its other factory in Romsey, Hampshire Tony Morris, the chairman of Michelmersh, told the Daily Telegraph the company had been targeting the 'appropriate balance between production volumes and customer demand expectations [and was] constantly reviewing the cadence of our manufacturing operations'. He added: 'We are grateful for the service of the Charnwood team over many years, and they will leave Michelmersh with our sincere thanks for all their efforts on behalf of the group.' Michelmersh will move all its operations to their Hampshire plant where it has increased production of machine-made bricks.  The closure of the Charnwood Plant could mark an end to the remarkable legacy of brick building in the region. Early brickwork in Leicestershire dates back to the Tudor era when the construction of redbrick buildings such as Bradgate House in 1542 - the home of Lady Jane Grey -replaced local stone and timber which was historically used in construction. Thanks to the area's deep deposits of red Keuper Marl clay, Leicestershire became a brickmaking hub for the UK.    The Industrial Revolution transformed brick building turning small localised kilns into massive commercial operations and in 1887 Charnwood Forest Brick was founded in Shepshed.  During this period, bricks made in Charnwood were used to build local landmarks such as Loughborough Grammar School. Carrying on into the 20th and then 21st centuries, Charnwood remained a centre for brick making.  In 1999, Charnwood Forest Brick was bought by Michelmersh where it produced roughly three million bricks a year.   No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.