A nationwide housing boom has doubled the demand for bricks, and so a concrete products manufacturer has invested heavily in its production line to keep up.

Tyrone-based Acheson + Glover has increased staff numbers at its factories in Toome and Dungannon to aid production.

It has also invested more than £50,000 on a second curing chamber for the first time in a decade, which it says is to capitalise on the renewed demand for facing bricks and address the shortfall products currently being experienced across the UK and Ireland.

While levels of facing brick production have not reached pre-crash heights just yet within the business, Acheson + Glover has reported its volumes have doubled year-on-year, signalling a positive trajectory.

Rodney Davidson, Head of Specifications, said: “We’re seeing a huge resurgence of orders from developers – especially for first-time-buyer and social housing projects.

“There has been a scarcity of facing bricks in the last decade as manufacturers wound down production lines.

We’re lucky to be in the position we are – dialling up our brick-making facilities to capitalise on the demand for it.”