The £290m-turnover manufacturer of masonry products is taking advantage of a strong domestic housing market to spur the public listing next month.

The firm produces the iconic and Fletton brick sold under the London Brick brand, which commands a premium price and commands strong demand from the residential RMI market, particularly in the South of England, having been used in the original construction of  23% of England’s existing housing stock.

Forterra also produces over a third of the country’s aircrete blocks and boasts 34% of total aggregate block sales in the South East and East of England.

Stephen Harrison, chief executive of Forterra, said: “As a leading, long-established producer of building materials focused solely on the UK, we are excited to begin this new period as an independent company with a listing on the London Stock Exchange.

“The fundamentals of our industry are attractive and with our efficient manufacturing base, strong positions across all product categories, long-standing customer relationships, and significant scope for future capacity expansion, Forterra is very well placed for the future.”

Forterra has not revealed how much the flotation is expected to raise.

Since the beginning of 2015, Forterra has brought back into production previously mothballed capacity amounting to 50m bricks per annum and invested to increase capacity at Measham by an additional 19m bricks per annum.

In the short term, Forterra has the potential to increase its extruded brick annual production capacity by an estimated 25m bricks by spending £9m in improvements to the gas supply, kilns and dryers at its facilities at Claughton, Desford and Accrington.

This would raise its annual brick production to close to 6m. Further ahead, Forterra also has permission to develop a new 100m per annum extruded brick facility at Swillington on the site of one of its former brick facilities which was closed in 2008.