To walk down Broom Street you'd never know, behind the facade of the unspectacular houses is a derelict former factory, decaying and left to ruin yet with a long history.

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In 1888, George Yorke forunded G. Yorke & Sons in Stoke-on-Trent. The company initially produced draught excluders and quickly became one of the main manufacturers of this product in the UK. The company expanded and by the 1950s, it was one of the world’s leading makers of draught excluders.

Later the company produced high quality hand brooms, push brooms and carpet brooms, yet due to increased costs and competition from mass markets, the company closed for good in 1980. The 1970s saw a huge shift in the manufacturing sector and this company could not compete with cheaper mass produced products and following the closure of the broom Street site the firm eventually went bankrupt inn 1983.

 

Since its closure, the premises has stood unused and rapidly became derelict and beyond saving. In 2022 it was finally demolished. Another local business succumbing to global forces.