BUILDER

USEFUL INFORMATION & ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR BUILDERS

June 2023

Founder of RUUT Group is named FSB Young Entrepreneur of the Year

A LEICESTERSHIRE property professional has been named the FSB East Midlands Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Utkarsh Thakkar

(28), the Founder of RUUT Group will also be able to represent Leicestershire & East Midlands on a national front as he has been nominated for FSB’s National awards.

His company, RUUT Group, covers all aspects of property from purchase to planning, developing to building, renting and selling - all in house.

The company has already built and delivered up to £6.5m worth of development - for clients and for RUUT - comprising over 50 new property units in Leicestershire.

A further 110 new build units - valued at £12.5m - is planned and scheduled to start before the end of this year.

In addition to his development activities, Utkarsh also leads an Estate & Letting Management arm of the business under the name of RUUT Homes, which manages their own and clients’ property portfolios across Leicestershire.

Europe’s biggest, most efficient brick factory officially opens

THE LARGEST and most efficient brick factory in Europe, Forterra’s new Desford factory in Leicestershire, has officially opened. The launch ceremony, led by Conservative MP for Bosworth Dr Luke Evans, showcased the factory’s advanced efficiency, productivity and sustainability credentials to industry experts, journalists and Forterra customers.

With a total investment of around £95 million, the new factory has been commissioned to grow capacity, improve cost efficiency, and boost sustainability.

Once at full capacity, the Desford factory will be able to manufacture 180 million bricks per annum, enough to produce 25,000 new homes and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ...>

Forterra factory opens - from page 1

provide customers with an additional 120 million domestically produced bricks compared to the old factory’s previous output. On a company-wide scale this increase in brick production capacity represents a growth of around 22%.

The new factory incorporates state-ofthe-art innovations with sustainability mechanisms, robotics hardware, and advanced packaging solutions, which streamline its production processes to be as efficient and sustainable as possible while satisfying the ongoing demands of customers. As a result of these changes, the bricks produced at Desford will have a carbon footprint approximately 25% lower than those from the old factory.

Dr Luke Evans, who has visited the factory numerous times during the course of its development, unveiled Desford’s official plaque at the launch ceremony and delivered a speech to mark the occasion, congratulating Forterra on its commitment to Britain’s manufacturing industry.

Neil Ash, CEO of Forterra, said: “We are thrilled to announce the opening of the Desford factory, which represents a significant milestone for Forterra. This new factory’s impressive production capacity demonstrates our commitment to meeting the ongoing demands of the housing sector in our mission to Keep Britain Building.”