under the management of j.h. powell the metalwork design department split from the stained glass department in 1883 and traded under the name hardman, powell and co. powell died in 1895, passing the leadership of the firm to john bernard hardman, the grandson of john hardman snr, who headed the company until 1903 and took the firm to the exposition universelle, paris. the firm continued producing stained glass in the 21st century under directorship of donald taunton and patrick a. feeny until the 1970s, and had premises at 26 frederick street in the jewellery quarter, birmingham, newhall hill and lightwoods house. a large proportion of the hardman archive, particularly their medieval room, was damaged and destroyed in a fire at the newhall hill studio in 1970; some of the earliest and most damaged cartoons are now held in temperature controlled storage at birmingham museum and art gallery. the business was closed in 2008.