Factory Records had begun as a series of club nights at the Russell Club in Hulme, Manchester. Tony Wilson one of the founders saw Factory as an engine for cultural change rather than a business. He and Alan Erasmus had started the Factory label in 1978 running it from office set up in the home of Alan situated on Palatine Road, whilst Tony was still a reporter working for Granada Television in Manchester. Early success with releases by A Certain Ratio and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were soon added to by other bands. Tony Wilson’s interest in allowing the artists freedom to create and perform how they wanted to at the time, soon meant other bands were interested in joining the label. It became apparent that a more formal structure was needed to run the music business and Factory (Communications) Ltd was formed from a shelf company called Canehand [Kanehand], as there was an urgent need to have a company established to satisfy several deals that were being agreed in 1980. The goodwill of the Factory label, which until then had been under the control of Tony Wilson were to be transferred across to Kanehand which would still initially be controlled by Tony Wilson until the company had been correctly set up in order not to be financially disadvantaged to be later joined by Alan Erasmus, Robert Gretton, Martin Hannett and Peter Saville. The shelf company, incorporated on the 24th October 1980 held an Extraordinary General Meeting held where it had been agreed to replace an existing clause to the Memorandum of Association which then allowed the business to carry on as manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers gramophone records, television recording equipment and also to carry on the business of music publishers and in this connection to enter into agreements and other arrangements and to employ authors and composers of and to purchase copyrights and other rights in musical and dramatic compositions of all kinds. The change of name was certified by the Registrar of Companies on the 13th November 1980 It had been hoped to have named the company Factory Records Limited but a search of records at Companies House revealed that the name The Factory Records had already been created by Micky Most, a music producer and entrepreneur, in September 1977. Tony Wilson was advised against acquiring the company as there might be skeletons in the cupboard, since it had not filed any annual returns since it had been formed. An earlier application for name of business registration suggests that Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus wanted the company to be known as Movement of the 24 January Publishing Music however, the Registry of Business Names returned the forms with a handwritten note, please chose another business name, the above not acceptable for our files. Factory, as it became known, became an established part of the Manchester music scene and attracted more artists to the label, who were attracted to the hands-off approach Tony Wilson believed in. As well as promoting artists Factory also became involved in the club scene with the opening of the Hacienda nightclub and a cafe-bar called the Dry Bar in 1989, both based in central Manchester. Shortly after this Factor acquired new premises on Princess Street, Manchester as its headquarters in 1990. The group by now was enjoying a great deal of success both in nationally and internationally. However, by the end of 1990 its financial position began to deteriorate seriously as the result of the new projects which required additional funding and the enforced closure of the Hacienda, during 1991, for three months resulting in the loss of much needed income. A restructuring of Factory was required to satisfy a number of creditors, owed money by Factory, for Factory this was a serious situation as it was on the brink of closure if no viable solution to find further funding could not be found. The implications would have a profound effect on Tony Wilson’s original desire to be an engine for cultural change rather than a business driven by money was in peril. The Nineties continued to be a bad period for Factory, it was still in a serious financial position, added to by heavy demands on financing the recording and production of albums. Factory eventually declared bankruptcy in 1992, the Hacienda continued as a nightclub until 1997 when it too closed ending the labels contribution to an earlier hoped for cultural shift by those involved in the original Factory.

Joy Division began in Salford in 1976. Guitarist Bernard Sumner (also known by the surnames Albrecht and Dicken) and bass player Peter Hook formed the band after attending one of the Sex Pistols gigs at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in 1976. The day following the gig, Hook borrowed £35 from his mother and bought a bass guitar from Mazel Radio on London Road, Manchester. Sumner already had a guitar. The pair rehearsed in Sumner’s grandparents’ house in Salford, their instruments wired into a gramophone instead of an amplifier. Sumner and Hook formed their first band with schoolfriend Terry Mason on drums. They tried to persuade another schoolfriend, Martin Gresty, to join as vocalist. When he declined, the band placed an advert for a singer in the Manchester branch of Virgin Records. Ian Curtis responded to the advert and was hired without an audition. Sumner, Hook and Mason knew Curtis from attending gigs in Manchester and got on well with him. The band was billed as Stiff Kittens on flyers for their first gig at the Electric Circus in Collyhurst, Manchester. The band was supporting Buzzcocks, and guitarist Pete Shelley and Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon suggested the name. The band changed the name to Warsaw shortly before the gig on 29 May 1977. This was a reference to the David Bowie song ‘Warszawa’ on his album Low. Two days before the gig, Tony Tabac joined Warsaw as drummer, with Terry Mason taking on the role of band manager. A month later, Steve Brotherdale replaced Tabac as drummer. Brotherdale also played in the punk band The Panik. Warsaw recorded five demo tracks at Pennine Sound Studios in Oldham, Lancashire in July 1977. Soon after the sessions, the band fired Brotherdale as drummer. The following month, Warsaw placed an advert for a drummer in Jones’ music shop in Macclesfield. Stephen Morris responded and met up with Curtis at his home. Curtis played Morris the demo tracks and the pair talked about their musical interests and the punk scene in Manchester. Morris joined Warsaw at a rehearsal at the Abraham Moss community centre in Crumpsall, Manchester the following week. Warsaw recorded tracks for a debut EP, An Ideal for Living, at Pennine Sound Studios in December 1977. They played the Swinging Apple in Liverpool on New Year’s Eve 1977, their last gig as Warsaw. A London punk band already had the name Warsaw Pakt and so, to avoid confusion, Warsaw renamed themselves Joy Division. The name came from the novel House of Dolls. Their first gig under the Joy Division name was at Pip’s Disco, Manchester, on 25 January 1978. In March 1978, RCA Records approached Joy Division to record a new wave cover version of a Northern Soul classic, ‘Keep on Keepin’ On’, for a compilation album. In April 1978, Joy Division met TV news reporter and broadcaster Tony Wilson and band manager Rob Gretton at a band contest, the Stiff/Chiswick Challenge, held at Rafters nightclub, Manchester. Gretton was also the house DJ at the nightclub. He was impressed by the band’s performance and offered to be their manager. Wilson was also impressed and, after being challenged by Curtis about why he had not yet put Joy Division onto his music show ‘So It Goes’, promised that they would be the next band he would showcase. Joy Division did not record the cover version for RCA Records. Instead the band recorded an album for RCA at Arrow Studios, Manchester in May 1978. They were not happy with the final mix and asked to be released from the RCA contract. Their debut record was the self-released EP ‘An Ideal for Living’, in June 1978. Tony Wilson’s late night music programme ‘So It Goes’ was cancelled before Joy Division was able to perform on it. In September 1978, the band made its television debut performing ‘Shadowplay’ on ‘What’s On’, Wilson’s music segment in the evening news magazine programme Granada Reports. In October 1978, Joy Division recorded two tracks for the Factory Records double 7-inch EP ‘A Factory Sample’. The band recorded with producer Martin Hannett at Cargo Recording Studios, Rochdale, Lancashire. They contributed two tracks, ‘Digital’ and ‘Glass’, to the EP. Joy Division then joined Factory's roster, with Gretton becoming a partner in the label to represent Joy Division’s interests. On 27 December, during the drive home from a gig in London, Curtis suffered his first recognised severe epileptic seizure and was hospitalised. He recovered in time to record a session for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel in January 1979. In April 1979, Joy Division recorded their debut album ‘Unknown Pleasures’ at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, with Hannett again on production. Factory Records released the album in June 1979. The band performed on ‘What’s On’ the following month and made their only national TV appearance on BBC 2’s ‘Something Else’ in September 1979. From October 1979, they joined Buzzcocks on their UK tour. This allowed the band members to quit their regular jobs and become full time musicians. Joy Division is known for not releasing album tracks as singles. The band’s debut single was the track ‘Transmission’, released in November 1979. In January 1980, Joy Division toured Europe. The gig at Kant Kino in Berlin inspired the track ‘Komakino’, which Factory later gave away as a 7-inch flexi-disk in June 1980. Before that, in March 1980 Joy Division recorded their second album, ‘Closer’, at Pink Floyd’s Britannia Row studio in London. Hannett was the record’s producer. The same month they released two tracks recorded as part of the ‘Closer’ sessions, ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Dead Souls’, as an art package called ‘Licht und Blindheit’ through the independent French record label Sordide Sentimental. Curtis’s health deteriorated during the recording of ‘Closer’. Depressed about the restrictions his epilepsy placed on his ability to perform live, he made his first suicide attempt in April 1980. The band was due to tour the USA in May 1980, to promote ‘Closer’. Curtis’s death by suicide the evening before the band was due to fly over to the USA prevented the tour taking place. In June 1980, Factory Records released Joy Division’s final single, ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. The following month, the label released ‘Closer’. Following Curtis’s death, the remaining members of Joy Division re-formed as New Order.

A Certain Ratio (ACR) formed in Flixton, Manchester, in 1977. Founder members Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet) were joined by Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Martin Moscrop (trumpet, guitar) later the same year. Donald Johnson (drums) joined in 1979, and Martha Tilson (vocals) soon after. The name of the band comes from a Brian Eno track The True Wheel. In 1982, Tilson left and keyboard player Andy Connell joined the band. Founder members Topping and Terrell left the band later the same year. Tony Quigley (saxophone) joined in 1983. Connell left in 1985 to form Swing Out Sister, and the core of the band became Kerr, Moscrop, Johnson and Quigley. The band’s musical influences are funk, disco and Latin. The ACR single All Night Party was the second recorded release on independent record label Factory Records. One of the Factory Records partners, Tony Wilson, was briefly the band’s manager. The band released a total of six albums and ten singles on Factory Records before signing to major label A&M in 1987. Between 1991 and 1994, ACR released records through the independent label Robs Records, set up by former Factory Records partner Rob Gretton. In 1994, Creation Records began reissuing the band’s back catalogue of albums and the band recorded and released new material in 1996 and 1997. The band released a new album on French label Le Maquis in 2008. Other reissues of the ACR back catalogue have been released by Soul Jazz and by LTM. Since 2018, Mute Records has reissued ACR’s back catalogue material, including a 40th anniversary retrospective in 2019. The band continues to tour.

Brothers Larry Cassidy (bass, vocals) and Vincent Cassidy (drums) formed Section 25 in Poulton-le-Fylde near Blackpool, Lancashire, in November 1977. Guitarist Phil Denton joined the band in 1978 but was replaced within a few months by Paul Wiggin. The Cassidy brothers promoted a charity gig at Blackpool Imperial Hotel in June 1979. Section 25 headlined the gig with other local bands, including Tunnelvision, in support. Factory Records acts Joy Division and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were also on the bill. Joy Division’s manager Rob Gretton invited Section 25 to play the Factory night at the Russell Club, Manchester. Shortly afterwards, Section 25 began releasing material through Factory Records. Their debut single Girls Don’t Count was released on Factory Records in July 1980, and their debut album Always Now appeared the following year. The sleeve design for the album, by Peter Saville in response to a brief from Larry Cassidy, was among the most expensive and elaborate in the label's history. The band toured extensively in the UK and Europe between 1979 and 1981. As well as their own headline gigs, Section 25 also appeared with other Factory Records artists, including Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, Blurt, The Durutti Column, Crispy Ambulance and New Order. Wiggin left the band in September 1981, thanks to his fear of flying preventing him from joining the band’s planned North American tour. Factory Records parner Tony Wilson attempted to recruit a then-unknown guitarist called Johnny Marr as a replacement, without success. The band continued as a duo, with John Grice on percussion for live performances. They trialled the use of backing tapes on a European tour with Factory labelmates Crispy Ambulance in January 1982, before undertaking their first North American tour. Percussionist Lee Shallcross, and vocalists and keyboard players Angela Flowers (sister of Larry and Vincent Cassidy) and Jenny Ross (Larry Cassidy’s wife) joined the band, and Section 25 developed an electronic-dance sound. The five-piece toured North America in January 1985 in support of their album From the Hip. Later the same year Shallcross, Flowers and Vincent Cassidy left the band, leaving husband-and-wife team Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross to complete a fourth album, Love & Hate. This was eventually released by Factory in 1988. Between 1988 and 2001, Section 25 ceased to be active, although record label LTM reissued their entire back catalogue on CD. In 2001 the band regrouped and started composing new material. Sadly Jenny Ross died in 2004, after a long fight with cancer. Former Tunnelvision guitarist Ian Butterworth and bass player Roger Wikeley joined the Cassidy brothers in around 2005. Section 25 performed its first live show in nearly two decades at their hometown Poulton-Le-Fylde in May 2006. A new studio album followed in April 2007 and the band toured with former New Order bass player Peter Hook in 2008. Stephen Stringer replaced Wikeley in 2008. Butterworth left at the end of the same year, prompting Stringer to move from bass to guitar, with Section 25’s sound engineer Stuart Hill joining on bass. Bethany Cassidy, daughter of Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross, joined the band on vocals and keyboards. Another album followed in 2009 and work began on the band’s 7th album, Retrofit. When founder member Larry Cassidy died in 2010, the album was released posthumously. The band, made up of Vincent Cassidy, Bethany Cassidy, Stringer and Hill, decided to continue to perform after Larry Cassidy’s death and released two more albums, in 2013 and 2018.