25 years of glorious brick

Prominent member of the YCCC, York Handmade, recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary and proprietor David Armitage had this to say to their customers:

"We thought we would celebrate with a little history of our life and times at Alne since 1988. It was then that the capital of the York Handmade Brick Company (previously the Alne Brick Co.) was acquired by myself and Tim Bristow.

"A few years later I became the sole owner of York Handmade and was later joined by my son Guy who is now a director of the company.

"The progress we have made in the last 25 years would not have been possible without the loyal service and dedicated expertise of York Handmade’s management team, which has now been in place for almost all of the 25 years and we owe the team a great deal.

"In addition to this excellent team, York Handmade is lucky to have some loyal and skilled employees in the factory. For loyalty, hard work and dedication to the task in hand, you couldn’t ask for a better team and this is the foundation upon which the company rests.

"On the sales side, it is also very important to mention the services of our sales team. Again, the service which they offer has been one of the hallmarks of our success.

"It is our steadfast aim to provide a first-class service at all times that makes us stand out against our competitors. When we started in 1988, we inherited a derelict factory.

"In fact, the factory was not even making bricks at all but was primarily engaged in the production of drainage tiles for agricultural purposes. Now, over £2m investment later, we have a dedicated modern handmade brick factory.

"The plant installed in 1988 still stands and serves us very well, enabling us to produce up to 5 million handmade bricks a year, but it has been augmented by a £750,000 specials plant which has played a major part in the success of recent prestigious contracts.

"Finally, I should just add that no brickworks can operate without a good supply of clay going forward. We are very pleased to have secured an option on a field next to our present factory, which will give us another 40 years clay supply so that we can expect a great many more millions of York Handmade’s famous bricks to come rolling off the production line.

"I would like to finish by thanking our customers, who range from the very smallest extension builder or floor tile user to the contractors and developers for their loyal support."

Here are just a few examples of the fine restoration projects that York Handmade have made possible.

For more information about this YCCC member company visit www.yorkhandmade.co.uk