In the decade following the restructuring of his interests, Furness continued to expand his transatlantic shipping services in the same cumulative manner as in the 1880s. Thus, branch offices and new business contacts continued to generate information about additional trading opportunities. The pattern of growth during the two decades was also similar. Furness strengthened his position on the main trunk routes (London and Liverpool to New York and Boston; shipowners referred to these as the “inside trades”) then dominated mainly by very large, long-established firms like Cunard, the White Star Line and several substantial American companies. At the same time, he continued to develop lines between secondary ports in the UK and North America and between lesser centres in North America and London and Liverpool. The methods he used, however, to extend his operations during the 1880s and 1890s differed in several respects. First, during the 1890s, Furness began purchasing firms to acquire their routes and tonnage. Second, as his network of business associates expanded beyond his local base in West Hartlepool, Furness developed new trades by taking part in joint ventures with shipping companies based in Liverpool, Hull and London, as well as firms engaged in other industries. In several cases the participants, some of whom had been shipbuilding clients of Furness, formed separate jointly-owned companies to control and manage the vessels deployed in a new service. Third, pursuing his practice of selling shares in single-ship companies with greater sophistication and on a much larger scale, Furness promoted a number of these enterprises as public limited-liability firms (appendix 4). While employing these means to extend his interests, Furness continued to focus his expansive energy primarily upon transatlantic routes during the 1890s.

The first task Furness undertook after forming Furness Withy was to acquire a large and long-established firm - Frederick Leyland and Co. - which had built up a large fleet of vessels that traded from Liverpool to Boston and the Mediterranean. When the founder died in 1892, his only son expressed no interest in running the family firm, and it became available for purchase.