Former Factory Records Office to Re-Open as Club

Posted on Jan 12th 2010 7:03AM by Johnny Dee

The former offices of legendary Manchester record label Factory Records are being reopened as a night club.

Called FAC251, the club is situated on the corner of Princess Street and Charles Street, site of Factory's headquarters from 1990 onwards when it was purchased and expensively redesigned at the height of the Madchester boom and later blamed as being responsible for the company's financial collapse.

On the website of the new club - which is - a message reads, "20 years since the birth of Madchester, the building that started it all and ultimately destroyed it all ... FAC 251 --head Office of Factory Communications Ltd ... Built by Tony Wilson. Designed by Ben Kelly. Paid for by New Order. Broken by Happy Mondays."

After Factory went belly up their former HQ was sold and became Paradise Factory nightclub but the current backers, who include New Order bassist Peter Hook (alongside Kelly) have a closer link to the building's history.

FAC251 was just one of many strange catalogue numbers Factory gave to non-musical releases -- the company's notepaper was FAC7, nightclub the Haienda (now luxury flats, pictured) was FAC51 and a pet cat was FAC191, while the coffin of label boss Tony Wilson was labelled FAC501.

Former Hacienda regulars Laurent Garnier and Mike Pickering lend a double helping of nostalgia to the opening night on Jan. 24, while following night features dubstep heavyweights High Contrast and Logistics.