Starting life as Sankeys Soap in 1994, this heritable venue is probably Manchester’s most crucial still alive.

Carrying the baton held previously by The Haçienda, it shortened its name to Sankeys in 2000, continuing to keep the torch of the Manchester scene roaring throughout the mid-'00s, laying the foundations for the city to become the haven for all night partying we know it as today.

Located just beyond the Northern Quarter, this rugged gem is an ex-soap factory set amid a scattering of derelict warehouses and industrial nooks. Once inside, however, there is nothing scruffy about its enormous Phazon soundsystem, state-of-the-art lighting and stunning LED visuals.

 The natural (UK) home for Steve Lawler’s ViVa Warriors and Heidi’s Jackathon parties, flagship night Carnival, which migrated to the club's thriving Ibiza sibling last summer, has been replaced by house/garage pioneers Recentes and Fiesta on Fridays and Saturdays — yet another episode in the ongoing soap opera that is Sankeys.