Ibstock scoop Manufacturer of the Year Award

Innovative approach to reducing carbon emissions recognized at BusinessGreen Leaders Awards 2022

IBSTOCK plc, the UK’s leading manufacturer and supplier of clay and concrete building products and solutions, have been crowned winner of the Manufacturer of the Year Award, a category which recognizes organizations that are pioneering green manufacturing best practices and principles and are producing new, clean technologies and products to cut their environmental impact to support the transition to a greener economy.

Now in their twelfth year, the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards – co-ordinated by the leading green economy publication, BusinessGreen – are the UK’s largest and most prestigious green business awards.

In a competitive category, Ibstock won over the judges with ‘their highly innovative approach to slashing emissions in the high-carbon world of brick manufacturing, where the company has pioneered a raft of new approaches and provided a crucial template for others to follow.’

Well-known brands from a wide variety of sectors were shortlisted for the award, including BAT, Meryl Medical, and Polypipe Civils & Green Urbanisation.

In the last decade, Ibstock have invested £115 million in manufacturing performance, implementing decarbonization measures, production efficiencies, and transformational technologies that reduce the carbon intensity and environmental impact of their operations and products, whilst accelerating the business’ journey to net zero. Their achievements include:

• 17% reduction in CO2 per tonne of production
• 8% reduction in mains water
• 13.6% of sales turnover from new and sustainable products
• 200 tonnes of plastic packing removed.

Ibstock recently launched their Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) strategy to 2030, defining a new era of responsible business and manufacturing, and serving as an important accelerator in speeding up the pace of change. Organized under three themes: Address Climate Change; Improve Lives; and Manufacture Materials for Life, headline ambitions include:

• 40% reduction in absolute carbon by 2030
• 20% of sales turnover to come from new products and solutions that deliver customer value and improved sustainability 
• Increase in female senior leadership representation to 40% as part of a proactive approach to diversity and inclusion.

Commenting on the win, Joe Hudson, Ibstock plc’s chief executive officer, said: ‘As an organization that is committed to sustainable methods of manufacturing, we are delighted to be recognized as 2022 Manufacturer of the Year at these prestigious awards.

‘Our employees have played a fundamental role in our sustainable success. Engaging and involving our people helps create a better understanding of our goals and ambitions as we work to create a more sustainable future. We are very proud of our progress to date, yet we know that we still have much more to do.

‘Our new ESG strategy to 2030 will take our business on the next stage in its evolution to deliver on the future challenges and opportunities of decarbonization.’