Brick manufacturer Michelmersh fell £2.9m into the red in 2008 as a result of the housing slump and higher energy costs

The pre-tax loss in the year to 31 December 2008 compared to a profit of £254,000 in the previous year.

Turnover increased slightly from £24m to £24.2m but the company was hit by redundancy costs of £142,000 and bad debts of £563,000.

It ended the year with net debt of £2.6m compared to £492,000 in 2007 but the company said it had the full support of its bankers after renegotiating its lending covenants.

Eric Gadsden, chairman, said: “Even in the present economic circumstances we believe that we are well placed and we are ambitious to take advantage of opportunities to grow the business.”