Initially Stan's Cafe took a recently vacated portion of the A E Harris & Co (Birmingham) Ltd. factory for a six week period to stage Of All The People In All The World. Audiences responded so enthusiastically to the venue and Stan's Cafe liked it so much that talks were initiated between theatre company and metal fabricators with a view to securing the space for performance on a long term basis.

The ambition was for this space to provide location for devising, rehearsing and presenting Stan's Cafe show and fand to become a focus for the development of an independent theatre scene within Birmingham. For its first two years @ AE Harris operated under significant subsidy from Stan's Cafe. Any hire fees went to off-setting rent or improving the venue's facilities.

In November 2010 Arts Council England recognised the contribution @ AE Harris makes to the local theatre scene and agreed to provide a degree of financial assistance. An agreement is in place with A E Harris that the venue can continue until the site is finally sold for redevelopment.

This section of the website is under development, eventually it should carry a comprehensive history of what has been going on @ AE Harris.