The London Brick Company, owned by Forterra plc, is a British manufacturer of bricks.
History
The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill, a developer-architect who built houses in London and Peterborough. In 1889, Hill bought the small T.W. Hardy & Sons brickyard at Fletton in Peterborough, and the business was incorporated as the London Brick Company in 1900. "Fletton" is the generic name given to bricks made from lower Oxford clay which have a low fuel cost due to the carbonaceous content of the clay.[1] Hill ran into financial difficulties and, in 1912, a receiver was appointed to run London Brick. Hill died in 1915, but after the receiver was discharged in 1919, Hill's son continued to run the company.[2]
The capital intensive Fletton brick industry suffered from substantial variations in demand. After the First World War, amalgamations were proposed. In 1923, London Brick merged with Malcolm Stewart's B.J. Forder, who, along with London Brick, was one of the four main groupings in the Fletton brick industry.[3]