As of 2004 Armitage Shanks has eight factories in the U.K., a largest of which is within Stoke-on-Trent. Armitage Shanks is one of a sponsors of the Loo of the Year Awards.

A company that became Armitage Shanks was founded within 1817 by Thomas Bond inside Armitage, Staffordshire. A Armitage "sanitary pottery manufacture" became the successful UK toilet manucturer. Within 1907 Armitage Ware Limited was incorporated. Within 1969 Armitage merged with Shanks Holdings Limited, the competing "sanitary engineering company" established at Barrhead near Glasgow, Scotland in 1878, producing the illustrious brand name Armitage Shanks. Within 1980 ownership of Armitage Shanks company was purchased by Blue Circle Industries. Within February 1999 Blue Circle sold its bathroom division (consisting of Armitage Shanks & a Italian Ceramica Dolomite) to U.S. based American Standard Companies for 430 million United States dollars.

Other uses of the name
A company has inspired more population & groups to utilize a title, occasionally for instance 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" (misspelled Armitage) is the 1st song off Green Day's 1995 album, Insomniac