Mitchell Shackleton & Co was created in 1907 when Ernest Mitchell formed a partnership with Edwin Shackleton. Mitchell's company was founded in 1887 when work began on the Manchester Ship Canal. It was one of the first to locate in Eccles, with the original works opening at Vulcan Works in 1888. Eccles later became an area populated by heavy industrial companies. From 1907 Mitchell Shackleton & Co Ltd created a successful crankshaft manufacturing and repair company for customers worldwide. Production transferred to the Green Lane site in Patricroft in 1908. The range of equipment on the site was unique and the capacities of the machines were unparalleled within the UK. The company, having been taken over by National Forge Europe, went into liquidation in 2003.