Original: In 1969 Armitage merged with Shanks Holdings Limited , a competing '' sanitary engineering company '' established at Barrhead near Glasgow , Renfrewshire in 1878 , producing the famous brand name Armitage Shanks .
Simplified: The second company was Shanks which started making toilets at Barrhead near Glasgow , Scotland in 1878 . The two companies joined together in 1969 .