

The Vinyl Factory is a music company that includes a record label, vinyl pressing plant and venue space. The pressing plant based in Hayes, West London is on the former site of the EMI pressing plant and currently produces over two million records a year. It is the UK's biggest vinyl manufacturer and only one in London.


In its heydey in the 1950s and '60s, EMI's 150 acre site in Hayes had 20,000 workers, many of them making records. In 2001, when EMI closed its factories believing there was no future in vinyl, the original 1960s and 70s equipment was purchased by Mark Wadhwa and Tim Robinson, who went on to found The Vinyl Factory. Now based in Enterprise House, one of the old EMI buildings, The Vinyl Factory Manufacturing meets the growing demand of the vinyl revival with its thirty-two-strong team of skilled staff, experienced in operating and maintaining the iconic, custom-built EMI 1400 presses.
"I knew the vinyl revival was huge but wasn't aware quite how great the demand is. The Vinyl Factory are struggling to keep up and due to the old-school process of creating vinyl there are only so many records they can make a day. It was fascinating seeing a small 'puck' being transformed into a beautiful record - by steam powered pressure! Very cool indeed." Carmel King photographed The Vinyl Factory in November 2021 for Made in London.

