In 1839 Young was appointed manager at James Muspratt's chemical works Newton-le-Willows, near St Helens, Merseyside, and in 1844 to Tennants, Clow & Co. at Manchester, for whom he devised a method of making sodium stannate directly from cassiterite.

In 1848 Young left Tennants', and in partnership with his friend and assistant Edward Meldrum, set up a small business refining the crude oil.

Following up this idea, he tried many experiments and eventually succeeded in producing, by distilling cannel coal at a low heat, a fluid resembling petroleum, which when treated in the same way as the seep oil gave similar products.

Geological surveys at the time showed the potential for similar sedimentary deposits in West Lothian, leading to the discovery of oil shales at Broxburn in 1858.

[6] The oil shales were less rich, typically yielding 150-180 litres per tonne, but the discovery meant that Young could extend his operations to West Lothian.

Although Young remained in the company, he took no active part in it, instead withdrawing from business to occupy himself with yachting, travelling, scientific pursuits, and looking after the estates which he had purchased.

Addiewell remained the centre of operations for Young's Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Co. Ltd.. By the 1900s nearly 2 million tons of shale were being extracted annually, employing 4,000 men.

Cheaper free-flowing petroleum from Russia and later the USA, effectively priced oil shales out of the market, causing the industry to almost collapse by 1919, long after Young himself had died.