The company that became Armitage Shanks was founded in 1817, by Thomas Bond in
Armitage,
Staffordshire. The Armitage "sanitary pottery manufacture" became a successful
toilet manufacturer in the United Kingdom. In 1907,
Armitage Ware Limited was
incorporated. In 1969, Armitage merged with
Shanks Holdings Limited, a competing "sanitary engineering company" that was established in 1878 in
Barrhead,
Renfrewshire, 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 United States based
American Standard Companies for
US$430 million. Following this purchase, the Armitage Shanks brand continued in the United Kingdom, and their former export markets. American Standard were acquired by
Bain Capital in February 2007. In 2024 it was acquired by the Villeroy & Boch Group ==Gallery==