Forterra plc

Forterra (formerly Hanson Building Products) is a manufacturer of building products for the United Kingdom's construction industry. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Forterra was originally founded as the building products division division of Hanson Plc. Early expansion was driven by a series of acquisitions, such as of The Butterley Company, London Brick, and Marshalls Clay Products. Hanson's acquisition by the German building materials company HeidelbergCement in 2007 included the division; during 2015, HeibelbergCement divested Hanson Building Products along with Hanson’s North American building products business, selling it to the American private equity firm Lone Star Funds. Shortly thereafter, the Forterra name was adopted and the firm was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in April 2016.

Forterra's activities have been heavily influenced by the performance of the wider construction industry, particularly the housebuilders. In 2016, the firm was considering mothballing two of its nine UK-based plants in response to diminished demand. It bought the Derbyshire-based concrete company Bison Manufacturing from the construction firm Laing O'Rourke during 2017. A sharp downturn in demand was experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Forterra experienced a sharp downturn in the demand that led to profit warnings and the threat of job losses being raised. Throughout the early 2020s, prices rose repeatedly as a result of inflation and cost increases. Cost pressures have led to restructuring and production being scaled back.