John Howard and John Bullough formed a partnership as Howard & Bullough Limited in 1856. Howard had previously been in partnership with a Mr Bleakley, operating as Howard & Bleakley from 1851 to 1856. The company manufactured textile machinery at its Globe Works premises in Accrington, Lancashire. Prior to joining John Howard in partnership, John Bullough had worked with William Kenworthy to develop the Lancashire Loom in 1842. Bullough's innovative engineering helped to establish Howard & Bullough Limited as the world's major manufacturer of power looms by the 1860s. John Bullough's son James joined the company in 1862. Over the following years, the company expanded production to include the full range of machinery used in cotton mills. By the 1890s, the company was the largest manufacturer of ring spinning frames in the world. At its peak, the company employed almost 6000 workers and supplied 75% of its output to countries around the world. John Bullough died in 1891, by which time he was the first cotton machine manufacturer to become a millionaire. In 1914, members of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers sought union recognition and a minimum wage from their employers. When Howard & Bullough Limited refused to meet their demands, 600 of the workforce took strike action. The company responded by locking out the entire workforce. In 1931 the company joined with several other Lancashire textile machinery companies to form Textile Machinery Makers Ltd in an effort to beat the economic depression. Each partner company continued to trade under its own name until the partnership was rationalised into one company in 1970 and renamed Platt UK Ltd. Following the acquisition of the American Saco-Lowell corporation in 1973, Platt UK Ltd changed its name to Platt Saco Lowell in 1975. It was through this series of mergers and acquisitions that the former Howard & Bullough Globe Works in Accrington became part of Platt Saco Lowell. Globe Works closed in 1993.

Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Co Ltd was formed by the merger of the Leyland Rubber Co with the Birmingham India Rubber Co and Stanley Morrison and Co in 1898. The original company was incorporated as James Quin & Co in 1873. The company had works on Golden Hill Lane, Leyland, Lancashire. In 1886, following the death of James Quin, the company changed its name to Leyland Rubber Co. In 1914, Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Co Ltd was listed as manufacturers and waterproofers of India Rubber, with specialities in motor and cycle tyres, rubber surgical goods, hoses, belting and other mechanical goods. In 1969, the company merged with BTR Industries Ltd. Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Co Ltd continued to trade under its own name within the BTR Group until its closure in 2002.

Founded by Samuel Lees the company was inherited by his second son Asa Lees. He turned from exporting fustian power looms to manufacturing textile spinning machinery. The company thrived for a number of years however, during the recession of the Thirties various textile machinery companies merged to form the Textile Machinery Makers Limited. They continued to trade under their own name until 1970 when they became of one company called Platt UK Ltd.

Manufacturers and sellers of the "Carlton" chemical toilet developed for use in air raid shelters during the Second World War.

The company produced soda ash used in various processes in the chemical industry. Originally set up by John Tomlinson Brunner and Ludwig Mond in 1873 at a place called Winnington, near Northwich in Cheshire. They built the Winnington works on the site of Winnington Hall and produced their first soda ash in 1874. They chose the Northwich area due to the large deposits of salt found there, an important ingredient in manufacturing alkalis. The two men worked well together, and as the business grew it expanded its range of products using new methods of chemical extraction from the soda ash. The company took over other chemical companies in the area or induced them to stop soda ash production. By 1911 it had acquired two large soap manufacturers located in Warrington, Joseph Crosfield and Sons along with William Gossage and Sons. During the First World War it turned its attention to producing ammonium nitrate for the munitions industry and purified TNT for use by the military and provided synthetic phenol. During the period 1911 to 1926 the company had acquired a number of smaller chemical companies. In 1926 it merged with three other companies to form Imperial Chemical Industries the plants created by Brunner, Mond to produce soda ash became the Alkali Division. In 1991 Brunner Mond Holdings Ltd was formed resulting from the break of the UK and Kenyan soda ash business from ICI. A holding company Brunner Mond Holdings Ltd was formed and once again traded as an independent company, it acquired the soda ash production facilities from Akzo Nobel. Eventually in 2006 the company was purchased by Tata Chemicals.

Joseph Crosfield established his soap manufacturing business in Warrington in 1814, following an apprenticeship with Anthony Clapham, a druggist and chemist and later soap manufacturer in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The company became known as Joseph Crosfield & Sons sometime around Crosfield’s death in 1844, when his three sons and his brother George took over the running of the company. Crosfield chose Warrington as the base for his business because of its location on the River Mersey, its connections to the canal network, and its proximity to other large scale soap manufactories in St Helens, Runcorn and Liverpool. Crosfield took on the premises of a failed wire mill in the Bank Quay area of Warrington. The company began to turn a profit from 1818, and subsequently expanded its operations, with Crosfield buying machinery from a nearby corn mill in 1820. He was joined in the business by his younger brother William in the same year. By the mid-1830s, the company produced around 900 tons of soap per year. Out of 296 soap manufacturers operating in England and Scotland during 1832, Joseph Crosfield & Sons Ltd was the 25th largest business. Most soap makers at the time manufactured their own alkali using the Leblanc process, rather than using alkali from vegetable sources, and Joseph Crosfield was no exception. He acquired the premises of a bankrupt alum works in St Helens and set up a separate business with his older brother James and Josias Christopher Gamble as business partners. By the time Joseph Crosfield died and his sons and brother took over the business in 1844, the company was very successful, generating large profits. After Crosfield’s death, the company continued to expand, and began producing a range of chemicals for use as ingredients in other products. In 1883, it became one of the first factories to install electric light. The company was registered as a private limited company in 1896, changing its name to Joseph Crosfield & Sons Ltd. In 1909, it acquired the rights to manufacture the soap brand Persil in the UK. Between 1911 and 1919, the company was briefly owned by Brunner, Mond & Co. This parent company sold its shares in Joseph Crosfield & Sons Ltd to Lever Brothers in 1919, becoming a subsidiary of Unilever in 1929. Joseph Crosfield & Sons Ltd continued to operate as a separate subsidiary company until 1964, when Unilever bought up all publicly held shares in the company and cancelled them. Soap manufacture passed to Lever Brothers, with Joseph Crosfield & Sons Ltd focusing on its specialty chemicals business. ICI acquired the specialty chemicals division in 1997, manufacturing ingredients for detergents and toothpastes. ICI sold its interests in the company to Ineos Capital in 2001, with Joseph Crosfield & Sons Ltd renamed Ineos Silicas. The Bank Quay site closed in 2020.

Established by Thomas Till and Frederick Whitehead in 1876 supplying tacks to pulley belts that drove the textile machines. The company expanded and began selling high quality ironmongery, they began to make the “Crucible” fire grate along with cooking ranges and iron bed frames. In 1896 the company was incorporated and continued to grow eventually supplying the building trade as well as domestic customers. The original premises on Chester Road were the subject of a compulsory purchase order and they moved to new premises on Ellesmere Street. The company opened branches in Bolton and Cheltenham from where they continue to trade.