A LOCAL company has supplied 115,000 bricks for the flagship store in the £440 million redevelopment of a shopping centre in Oxford.
York Handmade Brick Company of Alne, near Easingwold, won the £150,000 contract to supply bricks for the exterior of the John Lewis store in the Westgate Centre.
The development is a joint venture between Land Securities and the Crown Estate and is due to open this autumn.
It will feature more than 100 shops, 25 restaurants and cafes, a cinema, 61 flats, and a 1,000-space underground car park. It will create around 3,400 jobs.
David Armitage, chairman of York Handmade, said: "It was a tremendous honour to be asked to provide so many bricks for such a prestigious project.
"The redevelopment highlights the new fashion for replacing concrete with brick, which creates a softer, more attractive appearance. In a historic city like Oxford, this is much more appropriate.
"Our long thin Maxima bricks, which are becoming increasingly popular, provide a distinctive and sensitive look."
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