the sanitec group industry bathroom fittings founded 1849 founder thomas twyford & thomas william twyford headquarters alsager cheshire england products sanitaryware website http www.twyfordbathrooms.com twyford bathrooms is a manufacturer of bathroom fixtures based in alsager cheshire england . contents 1 history 2 company timeline 3 external links 4 references history edit thomas twyford and his son thomas william twyford established what we now know as twyford bathrooms in 1849 in bath street hanley stoke on trent . the worldwide demands for new sanitaryware soon required the building of an all new factory in 1887 at cliffe vale stoke on trent . this was the first purpose built bathrooms factory in the world . today it is owned by the sanitec group which is the largest european manufacturer of sanitaryware . 1 in 1999 twyford bathrooms were made holders of the royal warrant of appointment to her majesty queen elizabeth ii . company timeline edit 1680 joshua twyford born 1640 died 1729 89 was the first twyford to make commercial pottery near shelton old hall hanley stoke on trent . specimens of his work can be seen at the potteries museum in hanley stoke on trent including a salt glazed stoneware teapot inscribed sarah twyford . 1729 joshua twyford died . the precise date production ceased at twyford s original factory is not known but the twyford family continued potting in the district with a possible a lapse of a generation . 1827 thomas twyford was born . 1849 thomas twyford established two factories where washbasins and closet pans of an elementary nature were made . the first was his bath street works in hanley stoke on trent . the factory still exists but the street has been renamed garth street . the second was his abbey works in bucknall stoke on trent . twyford commenced exporting to america russia australia france germany spain and many other countries . 1849 23 september thomas william twyford was born . he was born in hanover street hanley stoke on trent . 1870 the annus mirabilis of the water closet . 1870 was the start of thirty years of massive growth of the twyford company and a flood of sanitary invention . 1872 thomas twyford died . thomas william at the age of just 23 took over the running of the blossoming company . 1883 thomas william twyford introduced the first all ceramic free standing one piece washout pedestal closet . the unitas . this incorporated the wc pan with an integral trap as one piece of pottery without the need for a surrounding wooden cabinet . the unitas was exported throughout the world and the name itself is used to this day in the russian language to mean toilet . 1887 twyford s cliff vale factory was built as a model factory . the new factory s toilet facilities and systems of ventilation were treated by government inspectors of factories as a pattern for the whole of staffordshire . every workman had his own opening window . 1889 the first washbasins with combined overflows introduced by twyford . 1896 twyford formed into a private limited company . 1901 twyford built a factory in ratingen germany but vacated it in 1914 during the first world war . it was not reoccupied by twyford but the keramag company was established and produces sanitaryware at the factory to this day . keramag is a member of the sanitec group . 1919 twyford became a public limited company . 1921 thomas william twyford died . he was recognised as a leading pioneer in the application of principles of hygiene to sanitary appliances . he became known as the father of british bathrooms . 1929 a new silent black and white movie film showing the sanitaryware processes was commissioned as a marketing tool by the new twyford management . 1945 reconstruction of etruria works started and the first tunnel kilns installed . 1953 the cliffe vale fireclay factory was reconstructed it suffered bomb damage during the second world war . 1956 construction at alsager cheshire of a vitreous china factory was started on a 52 acre 210 000 m2 site . the first stage was completed in 1958 . 1960 twyford commenced manufacture of vitreous china in india with hindustan sanitaryware & industries limited . 1962 twyford established a factory in port elizabeth south africa . 1970 twyford commenced manufacture of vitreous china in a new factory located in melbourne australia . 1976 a 5 million expansion scheme for the alsager vitreous china factory completed . 1992 mb caradon invested 13 million in a new national distribution centre and new head office showroom and administrative block on the alsager site which became the largest single unit devoted to vitreous china production and distribution in europe . the site at alsager now covers 70 acres . 1999 twyford s 150th birthday 2001 january hsbc sold twyford bathrooms to the sanitex corporation of helsinki finland . sanitec is europe s largest producer of ceramic sanitaryware in europe and is quoted on the helsinki stock exchange . twyford bathrooms was re established with the twyford doulton and royal doulton brands of bathroom products . 2001 twyford introduced the first british made specially designed valve operated toilet suite to the uk market . the view suite . 2005 twyford brand logo is redesigned 2007 twyford s sola range completely overhauled and the rimless pan launched 2007 twyford galerie flushwise the dual flush 4 litre and 2.6 litre water efficient suite launched and wins the water wise marque award . 2 2010 the company s parent group sanitec announced the closure of the alsager factory in july 2010 with all manufacturing moving to factories outside the uk . 3 2011 production halted after 162 years the factory in alsager stoke on trent was closed making way for a sainsburys however the offices remain . 2012 planning permissions proposed for sainsburys supermarket is refused 4 due to the impacting nature of surrounding businesses . in october 2012 twyfords bath street works in hanley stoke on trent is finally demolished . sadly on 28 december 2012 twyfords garner street or etruria works sustains an enormous fire with many of the businesses in the last original twyfords industrial units being affected . external links edit twyford bathrooms waterwise references edit 1 sanitec.com 2 history of twyfords 1680 1982 by james denley http www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net news news.asp id 7075 & title twyford bathrooms confirms alsager closure twyford planning permissions rejection pdf . newcastle council . retrieved 19 september 2013 . v t e city and unitary authority area of stoke on trent areas towns and wards abbey green ward abbey hulton banky brook basford bentilee birches head blurton blythe bridge bradeley bucknall burslem chell cliffe vale cobridge dresden etruria fenton goldenhill hanley hartshill heron cross lightwood longport longton meir middleport milton norton le moors penkhull shelton sideway smallthorne sneyd green stoke upon trent trentham trent vale tunstall weston coyney history ceramic and allied trades union darwin wedgwood family federation of stoke on trent history of port vale f.c. history of stoke city f.c. staffordshire potteries wedgwood pottery in stoke on trent 1842 pottery riots parliamentary constituencies current stoke on trent north stoke on trent central stoke on trent south historic burslem hanley stoke on trent stoke upon trent religion stoke minster bethesda methodist chapel hulton abbey our lady of the angels and st peter in chains church tourism buildings bottle ovens etruria hall ford green hall trentham mausoleum the villas wedgwood institute water world winton square north stafford hotel theatres regent theatre victoria hall theatre royal museums and libraries burslem school of art ceramica chatterley whitfield etruria industrial museum gladstone pottery museum montagu c. butler library potteries museum & art gallery spode museum shopping city sentral potteries shopping centre parks and countryside berryhill fields hanley park hartshill park stoke on trent garden festival trentham estate sport and music venues britannia stadium golden torch longton cricket club ground meir heath cricket club shelley s laserdome the sugarmill the underground vale park media publishing cross rhythms g & y pits n pots the oatcake the staffordshire sentinel radio bbc radio stoke cross rhythms city radio signal 1 signal 2 ucb uk stoke & stafford dab multiplex education list of schools stoke on trent college city of stoke on trent sixth form college staffordshire university royal stoke university hospital companies pottery aynsley china beswick pottery burleigh pottery carlton ware ceram churchill china clayburn pottery dudson emma bridgewater etruria works gray s pottery james sadler and sons ltd j. & g. meakin midwinter pottery mintons moorcroft palissy paragon china portmeirion pottery royal doulton royal winton shelley potteries spode wedgwood w h grindley other armitage shanks bet365 canditv clay records dechra pharmaceuticals goodwin steel castings hanley economic building society randles motor group shelton bar sons ltd. titanic brewery twyford bathrooms wrights pies sport association football teams dresden united eastwood hanley hanley town meir ka norton united port vale stoke city speedway teams stoke potters stoke spitfires transport canals caldon canal trent and mersey canal public transport d & g bus first potteries stoke streetcar rail longport railway station longton railway station north staffordshire railway stafford manchester line stoke on trent railway station stoke railway works major roads a34 a50 a52 a53 a500 longton interchange miscellaneous list of people lobby may un mar lady oatcake owd grandad piggott potteries derby potteries dialect river trent sanity fair start up citywide st postcode area retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title twyford bathrooms & oldid 738108895 categories bathroom fixture companiesbritish brandsceramics manufacturers of englandcheshire eastcompanies based in cheshireenglish 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