Overview
- The Charnwood plant in Shepshed will cease production by the end of May, the company announced, and the site’s freehold will be assessed for sale or other options.
- Michelmersh will move the factory’s output to its Romsey, Hampshire facility where it has expanded machine-made brick panel production.
- The closure directly affects 28 employees who will be made redundant as the company reduces capacity to match lower customer demand.
- Industry data show brick dispatches fell about 10% year-on-year in Q1 2026 and rival Ibstock reported an 11% drop in domestic volumes, which companies link to weaker housebuilding and higher input costs.
- Charnwood traces its roots to 1887 and produced roughly three million handmade bricks a year before the 1999 purchase by Michelmersh, making the shutdown a notable local loss and a sign of broader strain in UK building materials demand.