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Manufacturing

Ibstock Brick ready to 'scale up' if demand improves

The firm revealed that its clay and concrete businesses have benefited from ‘improving conditions’ in the last three months

Ibstock is a major brick-making company with manufacturing sites across the country

Brick-maker Ibstock Brick is ready to ‘scale-up’ if demand for its products continues to improve.

In a trading update for the period up to September 30, the Leicestershire firm revealed that its clay and concrete businesses have benefited from ‘improving conditions’ in the last three months, with overall volumes recovering to around 90 per cent of prior year levels last month.

While revenues were 88 per cent of those in the comparative period last year.

Ibstock, which has 19 manufacturing sites across the 海角视频 including three in Staffordshire, announced plans to shed 375 jobs – around 15 per cent of its workforce – earlier this year as a result of the pandemic, in a move which is expected to save the company £20 million in 2021.

But the firm says it has ‘retained the flexibility’ to scale-up production if demand improves.

The trading update said: “Having executed an effective operational and financial response to the unprecedented disruption experienced across our business and markets in the second quarter, the sustained recovery in activity levels through the third quarter has enabled us to increase our focus on the initiatives that will support our long term strategic objectives.

“As we addressed the issues arising from the pandemic, we also decided to extend the programme of measures to improve the flexibility and cost competitiveness of the group’s manufacturing base, with the restructuring of operations, first announced in early June, expected to substantially complete by the end of the year.

“These actions are expected to result in a material structural reduction in our fixed cost base, delivering up to £20 million of annual cost savings in 2021. Whilst this will enable us to optimise returns should volumes remain below pre-Covid-19 levels, we have also retained the flexibility to respond quickly to scale up production as demand improves.”