"Punch Records was founded in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham in 1997 by Ammo Talwar MBE. The agency began as an Black music record store, and quickly became a major hub for artists and DJ culture, pioneering sales for vinyl and mixtapes of various genres such as UK Garage - tapes like Sun City, La cos Nostra and Harmony were very popular in the late 90s.
In its early days, Punch hosted legendary DJ competitions in the region and organised large scale events. This led to working with major labels including Def Jam, Bad Boy, Island and Rawkus supporting global artists in UK campaigns. At this time Punch was also a pioneer in the UK Garage scene, hosting regular events at Birmingham's legendary Que Club.
In 2002, the success of the record store led Punch to relocate to Birmingham's Creative Quarter, the Custard Factory complex in Digbeth and following on from its early success, Punch began to host events for young people as part of what would grow into Punch's famed outreach programme to develop talent within the city."
[taken from www.wearepunch.co.uk/about]
