Frederick Leyland was a longtime partner in John Bibby, Sons & Co which was based in Liverpool.

Also inherited from the Bibby Line was the tradition of giving all ships a name ending in "-ian" or "-ean", and the funnel painted pink with a black top.

The liner services developed well and the shipping company became the largest transatlantic freighter line.

In 1896, Leyland set up a passenger service in cooperation with Furness Withy, from Liverpool to New York and the Canadian ports.

[4] Leyland line was given responsibility for the European part of the International Navigation Company but had to discontinue the Mediterranean service.