Retail site reveals expansion plans at former brickworks near Horsham

Harrison Rural Partners are currently seeking consent from Horsham District Council to develop the new building on land at Rudgwick Brickworks.

The 84-acre former brickworks is now home to 21 businesses – including a brewery and coffee shop – which employ 91 regular staff and 20 occasional workers.

Before the brickworks closed it produced around 300,000 bricks a week and employed around 60 local people.

Gifford von Schiller – agents for Rudgwick Brickworks’ owners Harrison Rural Partners – in a statement to the council say: “The Rudgwick Brickworks redevelopment or restoration under the Harrison family has demonstrated that former industrial sites in rural areas can be brought back into modern uses which contribute to the local area and the local economy providing new jobs and a visitor attraction.”

They say that the number of local staff employed by the brickworks before the Harrisons bought it was declining rapidly and one of the requirements from Horsham District Council stipulated the project must employ at least the same level of staff as the brickworks did previously.

“The application which has been submitted secures existing jobs for the area and will continue existing tenants the opportunity to expand their businesses.”

The retailers say they do not want to leave the brickworks as they are well established but do need more space.

In their statement, the agents add: “The rural economy is a constantly changing paradigm and should be nurtured, supported and promoted because it forms the core of

the nation.

Have you read? Proposals to knock down a Horsham house and replace it with two more and nine flats

Family’s heartfelt tribute to Horsham mum who died after contracting Covid

"The new building will contribute to the overall viability of the brickworks allowing existing business the ability to expand and remain at the location.”

They add: “The brickworks development is more than just another retail or commercial site, it’s a glue that bonds people and businesses together from having a coffee, buy a cheese, seeing an architect or buying a car or having one renovated.”

Among the businesses at the brickworks are furniture manufacturers, car dealers, a carpet company, architect, graphic companies, the Milk Churn Cafe – famous for its Sussex Charmer cheese – and more.