Procter Brothers

Established in 1740 by William Varley, the Procter company of today has unrivalled expertise in Machinery Guarding, Fencing and Concrete Products. During the 18th and 19th centuries the business was mainly involved in the manufacture of a wide range of agricultural and domestic wire products from a number of small factories in Yorkshire. The trading name of Procter Bros (Wireworks) Ltd was introduced in 1884 by John and Charles Procter, and it was under their control that the company really started to develop its identity as specialist wireworkers. Procter Bros Ltd of today is managed by John’s great grandsons and Jeremy and his great great grandson, also called John is working in the business. In 1897, a Leeds inventor called James Henry Atkinson invented a better mousetrap which he named The Little Nipper”. He asked Procters to manufacture these for him and in 1913 the company purchased the rights for £2,000. This was the start of 100 years of mousetrap manufacture by Procters before the expansion of the Pest Stop range and eventual successful sale of the business.