PianoFactor

Founded in 2009 by pianist and entertainer Carl Williams, PianoFactor brought the American duelling-pianos format to the UK and has been refining it ever since. The show is driven entirely by requests: two singing pianists trading songs, insults and audience shouts, with the room supplying the setlist. The roster runs to eight full-time performers — three singing pianists, drummer, two guitarists and two saxophonists — across three formats: Duelling Pianos scaling to a five-piece band, the Party Piano Band, and a Pop-Up Piano Bar. Around a hundred events a year take them from Wembley Stadium, where they entertained NFL crowds, to the Scottish Event Campus, ICC Birmingham and Stadium MK, for clients including Microsoft, the NFL, Virgin, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes, the BBC, the RAF and the Guinness Storehouse.