A LEADING independent brickmaker from North Yorkshire has won two accolades in the 'Oscars of the brick industry.'

The York Handmade Brick Company, based at Alne, near Easingwold, was highly commended in the 2018 Brick Awards for two major projects - the acclaimed new Westgate Centre in the heart of Oxford and the new Halifax Library.

The Westgate Centre was commended in the Commercial Building category, while the library was honoured in the Public Building category.

The awards, organised by the Brick Development Association, were held at a glittering ceremony in London.

York Handmade chairman David Armitage said: “We were very proud to receive recognition for our work on the Westgate Centre and Halifax Library and to know that they were strong contenders on a highly competitive short list.

“Brick was alive and well at the awards and it is great our entries were right in the mix. Hopefully we can go one better next year and be an outright category winner.

“We have an excellent history in the Brick Awards. We first won an award in 1995 with the Supreme Brick Building award for St Brigid’s Church in Belfast. We haven’t looked back since then, holding our own against our bigger and better-known competitors.

"In 2015, for example, York Handmade won the Best Outdoor Space category in the brick awards for its “magnificent achievement” in restoring the Belvedere and Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden at Dumfries House in Scotland, a pioneering restoration project masterminded by Prince Charles.

"York Handmade was also nominated for its work on Carmelite House on London’s Victoria Embankment."