He made strenuous efforts to capture lucrative Asian markets, especially in India and expanded and developed the business, taking the company into cotton manufacturing with the purchase of the Ballindalloch Works in 1798.
He made strenuous efforts to capture lucrative Asian markets, especially in India, successfully challenging the supremacy of the British East India Company in trade with India and the Far East. Under his leadership the business expanded, moving into cotton manufacturing with the purchase of the Ballindalloch Works in 1798.