John Howard and John Bullough formed a partnership as Howard & Bullough Limited in 1856. Howard had previously been in partnership with a Mr Bleakley, operating as Howard & Bleakley from 1851 to 1856. The company manufactured textile machinery at its Globe Works premises in Accrington, Lancashire.

Prior to joining John Howard in partnership, John Bullough had worked with William Kenworthy to develop the Lancashire Loom in 1842. Bullough's innovative engineering helped to establish Howard & Bullough Limited as the world's major manufacturer of power looms by the 1860s.

John Bullough's son James joined the company in 1862. Over the following years, the company expanded production to include the full range of machinery used in cotton mills. By the 1890s, the company was the largest manufacturer of ring spinning frames in the world. At its peak, the company employed almost 6000 workers and supplied 75% of its output to countries around the world.

John Bullough died in 1891, by which time he was the first cotton machine manufacturer to become a millionaire.

In 1914, members of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers sought union recognition and a minimum wage from their employers. When Howard & Bullough Limited refused to meet their demands, 600 of the workforce took strike action. The company responded by locking out the entire workforce.

In 1931 the company joined with several other Lancashire textile machinery companies to form Textile Machinery Makers Ltd in an effort to beat the economic depression. Each partner company continued to trade under its own name until the partnership was rationalised into one company in 1970 and renamed Platt UK Ltd. Following the acquisition of the American Saco-Lowell corporation in 1973, Platt UK Ltd changed its name to Platt Saco Lowell in 1975. It was through this series of mergers and acquisitions that the former Howard & Bullough Globe Works in Accrington became part of Platt Saco Lowell. Globe Works closed in 1993.