Wienerberger increases capacity in the UK
In the UK, government initiatives have led to a revival of the housing market and a significant increase in construction activity. Experts have estimated a total of 165 000 housing starts for 2014, an increase of more than 23 000 units from the previous year. This increase has led to a certain supply shortage in the British market for building materials.
For this reason, Wienerberger already implemented measures to expand its capacity in 2013, which will be fully in place by the end of this year. Firstly, Wienerberger invested in technology upgrades and added shifts and new jobs throughout its UK operations. Using the group-wide business network, additional delivery capacity was also created by importing facing bricks from Belgium and the Netherlands. Now, in a further step, Wienerberger has reactivated two of its mothballed plants in Great Britain at Hartlebury and Ewhurst.
Wienerberger will increase production by around 200 mill. bricks per annum.
