After the death of Thomas Hazlehurst senior, the four sons inherited the business and became equal partners in it. William resigned from the business on 30th June 1849 and the remaining three brothers paid him £6,000 between them for his shares1 . On 31st December 1857 John also retired from the business.
There is little in the way of recorded documents about the activity of the firm during this period, although it clearly continued to prosper. The business of the firm was not limited to its manufacturing activities. In addition to these, the company owned shares in various enterprises, usually those with whom there was likely to be a vested interest; for example Hazlehurst's & Sons held 5 shares in the St. Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway 2.
In the early 1850s Hazlehurst's joined together with a number of local firms to form the Association of Northern Soap Makers. It is said that the object of this Association was "quite openly to fix prices" but it did not continue to survive for long3 .