Armitage Shanks

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Armitage Shanks on a Urinal

Armitage Shanks is a British manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and plumbing supplies.

In 2004 Armitage Shanks had eight factories in the UK, the largest in Armitage, Staffordshire. Armitage Shanks is one of the sponsors of the Loo of the Year Awards.

The company that became Armitage Shanks was founded in 1817 by Thomas Bond in Armitage, Staffordshire. The Armitage "sanitary pottery manufacture" became a successful UK toilet manucturer. In 1907 Armitage Ware Limited was incorporated. In 1969 Armitage merged with Shanks Holdings Limited, a competing "sanitary engineering company" established at Barrhead near Glasgow, Scotland in 1878, producing the famous brand name Armitage Shanks. In 1980 Armitage Shanks was purchased by Blue Circle Industries, and in February 1999 Blue Circle sold its bathroom division (consisting of Armitage Shanks and the Italian Ceramica Dolomite) to U.S. based American Standard Companies for US$430 million. Following this purchase, the Armitage Shanks brand disappeared outside the UK, as their former export markets, such as those in east Asia, moved over to the American Standard brand.

[edit] Other uses of the name

The company has inspired other people and groups to use the name, sometimes as an example of toilet humour.

Armitage Shanks (band), a UK rock band
Armitage Shanks is the pseudonym of the ringmaster of the Seattle, Washington based Circus Contraption
"Armatage Shanks (song)" [sic] is the first song on Green Day's 1995 album, Insomniac, which came about after the band had been to England and noticed the brand name on the urinals there.
"Armitage Shanks" is the 24th song on Future Clouds and Radar's self-titled 2007 album.
"Armitage Shanks" is a b-side on the 1993 single "U Talk 2 Much" by Cork City band The Sultans of Ping FC. Lyrics include: 'No one says Merry Christmas to those masters of industry, Armitage Shanks' and 'Often people use you, never even flush you'.
"Armitage Shanks" is a fictional character in the Focus on the Family radio drama, "Adventures in Odyssey".
"Armitage Shanks" is a fictional character in the novel Taz by Dawood Ali McCallum.