The Stanley Machine Tool Co. Ltd of Halifax, Yorkshire, was a British manufacturer of heavy metalworking lathes and sliding-bed lathes. Founded in the 1890s, the company originally operated as tool makers under the name Stanley Iron Works. Following financial difficulties in 1912, the business was acquired by Henry Holmes, Lewis John Akroyd, and Alfred Charnock. In 1938 after buying out Holmes and Charnock, Lewis Akroyd and the managing director (son of original designer Edgar Thomas) reorganized and officially named the enterprise the Stanley Machine Tool Company. During the Mid-20th Century, the firm built a strong reputation for heavy-duty industrial machinery, notably sliding bed lathes (such as Schlesinger-pattern sliding bed lathes). Around 1971, The company was purchased by an industrial financier and the business entered receivership and was subsequently acquired by Brooke Tool Engineering (Holdings) Limited. The lineage of the name eventually integrated into Broadbent Stanley Ltd based nearby in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire.