Meet the Manufacturer: Q&A with Ryan Mahoney, CEO of Michelmersh
As a long-standing manufacturing partner of Taylor Maxwell, Michelmersh is one of the UK’s leading specialists in premium clay bricks and pre-fabricated clay products. With a portfolio spanning facing bricks, pavers, special shaped bricks and bespoke solutions, Michelmersh combines traditional brickmaking expertise with modern manufacturing, innovation with a strong focus on sustainability.
We spoke with Ryan Mahoney, CEO of Michelmersh about their extensive brick portfolio, what makes their products stand out, where they are commonly specified and how the business is responding to the changing demands of the construction industry.
1. Hello Ryan, for those who may be less familiar with Michelmersh, can you tell us a little about the business and your approach to brick manufacturing?
Michelmersh has been making bricks for well over a century, and that heritage still shapes how we work today. Each site offers decades of expertise, each with its own clay, character, and history, which is part of what gives our portfolio such a broad range.
The Michelmersh Group was formed in 1997 and has consistently focused on sustainability and growth, which means one of my roles as CEO is to ensure our heritage is matched by continued investment in the right people and processes, so we're not only honouring our heritage but we are focused on progressing it for the long term.
What sets us apart is that we haven't purely focused on growing our market share at the expense of our product and service quality. Fundamentally, we are focused on our premium clay products and premium service and that discipline is what we believe architects and specifiers have come to rely upon us for.
2. Michelmersh has an extensive portfolio of brick ranges and brands. What are some of the key products available, and what makes the range so versatile?
Across our brands, from Freshfield Lane to Blockleys, Michelmersh, Floren and Carlton, we cover an enormous range of colours, textures and finishes, from soft handmade-style stocks through to crisp, precise wirecuts and specials. Each site brings something different, whether that's a particular clay colour or a manufacturing technique that's been refined over decades - variety matters because each project is different. An architect working on a heritage job may need something entirely different from one designing a new-build commercial scheme and having that breadth in one portfolio means we can find the right product without compromise.
3. What are the key benefits of specifying Michelmersh bricks, both aesthetically and technically?
Clay brick is one of the most durable materials you can build with, and ours are made to last well beyond the lifetime of most other cladding materials, often a century or more with minimal maintenance. Technically, they perform very well in weather resistance, frost resistance and colour stability, so what you specify is what you'll still be looking at decades later. Aesthetically, the depth of colour and texture you get from a genuine clay product is hard to replicate, and that's before you factor in the character that comes from natural variation and ageing.
4. Which sectors and project types are you seeing the strongest demand for Michelmersh bricks in?
We're seeing strong demand across commercial and public sector projects, as well as education and healthcare, where durability and low maintenance really matter over the lifespan of a building. Conservation and refurbishment work is another area where we perform well because matching an existing brick or finding something sympathetic to a historic setting is exactly the kind of challenge our range is suited to. Residential, both private housing and larger developments, continue to be a steady part of the sales mix too, particularly where clients want a material with genuine longevity.
5. Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important consideration when selecting building materials. How is Michelmersh addressing sustainability across its products and manufacturing processes?
Sustainability is embedded across our business, from the raw materials we select and the way we manufacture, to the performance and longevity of the finished product. Clay brick is inherently durable, requires very little maintenance and can remain in service for generations. Our responsibility is to retain those benefits while progressively reducing the environmental impact of our manufacturing processes.
Michelmersh has committed to achieving net zero by 2050, supported by an interim target to reduce carbon intensity by 25% by 2030. Our ISO 50001-certified energy management system provides the framework for continual improvement, while investment in renewable electricity, including further solar generation, is helping us reduce reliance on grid energy.
Alongside incremental efficiency improvements, we are developing more fundamental decarbonisation solutions. These include major site-level projects, research into alternative and bio-based fuels, and collaborative programmes exploring how energy-intensive ceramic manufacturing can transition towards lower-carbon and more circular processes. Our Data and Optimisation programme is also providing operational teams with greater visibility of energy consumption, production efficiency, yield and quality, allowing improvements to be identified and sustained in real time.
Transparency is equally important. We have developed factory-specific Environmental Product Declarations for our principal UK manufacturing sites, giving architects and specifiers independently verified environmental information with which to compare products and make informed whole-life decisions.
Our wider sustainability programme also addresses water consumption, packaging, responsible sourcing, waste reduction, biodiversity and the recovery and reuse of materials. We see net zero not as a single technology or project, but as a long-term transformation of how we design, manufacture and supply our products.
6. How is innovation influencing the development and manufacture of bricks, and what opportunities does this create for architects and specifiers?
Innovation at Michelmersh is about combining generations of brickmaking knowledge with new materials science, digital technology and collaborative research. Traditional expertise remains essential, particularly when working with natural raw materials, but new tools are helping us understand and control the manufacturing process with far greater precision.
Our Data and Optimisation programme is bringing together information on energy, production, quality and yield. This allows teams to identify patterns, improve process control and make faster, evidence-based decisions. Better control not only reduces energy and waste; it also improves consistency, repeatability and confidence in the finished product.
We are also investing in research and development through our innovation facilities and partnerships with universities, technology providers and industry specialists. Projects include the development of lower-carbon firing technologies, alternative and bio-based fuels, advanced raw-material characterisation and more circular approaches to manufacturing. Our previous hydrogen-firing work demonstrated that bricks can be produced using radically different energy sources, while current programmes are investigating how these technologies can be developed into commercially and operationally viable solutions.
Innovation is also influencing the products and services available to designers. New manufacturing techniques, bespoke shapes, prefabricated brick components and improved product-development processes can help architects realise increasingly ambitious designs while addressing buildability, performance and material efficiency. Digital product information, factory-specific EPDs and stronger data management will also make it easier for specifiers to understand a product’s provenance, technical characteristics and environmental impact.
Ultimately, innovation enables us to expand what is possible with brick without losing the authenticity, durability and distinctive character that make it such an enduring architectural material.
7. What advice would you give architects, developers and contractors when selecting the right brick for a project?
Think about brick early, not as an afterthought once the design is largely fixed. Performance requirements, planning constraints and local context should all inform the choice from the outset, particularly on conservation or sensitive sites where matching an existing palette is essential. Beyond appearance, look closely at durability and check availability and lead times so the programme isn't put at risk later.
To help with things, the Michelmersh Group offers a range of samples, from three brick boxes to large panels, to ensure customers know what they are getting. A brick can look very different on a full elevation than it looks on a small sample, so seeing it at scale, ideally in situ, makes a real difference to the final decision.
8. Taylor Maxwell has worked closely with Michelmersh as a brick supply partner. How does this relationship benefit customers, and what can they expect when working with both businesses?
Taylor Maxwell understands our range as well as we do, which means customers get expert guidance from the first conversation through to delivery on site. They can draw on our technical knowledge and product data, get samples arranged efficiently, and rely on Taylor Maxwell to help match the right brick to the right project. It takes the friction out of specification, because customers aren't left trying to navigate a large portfolio alone.
9. How does Taylor Maxwell’s market knowledge and customer support complement Michelmersh’s manufacturing expertise?
Michelmersh focuses on making the bricks that we’ve become known for, and Taylor Maxwell focuses on understanding what each customer needs and then helps to get them there quickly. Whether that's comparing options across our brands, checking availability or working through project-specific requirements. That combination means customers get both the depth of manufacturing expertise and the responsiveness of a merchant who knows the market, which gives them confidence in the decision they're making.
10. What does an effective manufacturer and merchant partnership deliver for customers throughout a project?
Consistency and reliability from start to finish! Customers receive support at every stage, from early design conversations and sampling through to ordering, delivery and any questions that come up once the project is underway. When the manufacturer and merchant are aligned, the customer shouldn't feel a handover between the two, just a joined-up service that helps the project run smoothly.
To learn more about our range of Michelmersh products, get in touch with us here.