Underworld Underworld is the local factory in Coronation Street . The factory produced mainly underwear and had been owned by multiple people over the years . The factory was first seen in 1990 when the modern side of the street was built . The factory was originally a printing workshop called Dun 2 A T owned by Steve McDonald . Eventually , Mike Baldwin bought the building , named it Underworld , and started manufacturing sportswear . Mike got a contract with Stephen Reid , Gail ' s brother and representative of the Canadian company Kbec . When Mike started doing cheap copies of Kbec ' s goods , Stephen threatened to take legal action against Mike . This was when Don Brennan , who had a grudge against Mike since he sold him a bankrupt garage , set fire to the factory for revenge . Thus , any evidence that Stephen would have used to prosecute Mike had gone up in smoke . When the factory was rebuilt , Mike got a contract with Angie Freeman to manufacture lingerie . The new factory caught fire in 2004 when Janice Battersby caused a fire by dropping a cigarette onto a pile of clothes in the stockroom . Nick Tilsley saved Janice but they both lost their jobs . After Mike died in 2006 , his son , Danny ran the factory until 2007 when Jamie Baldwin and Adam Barlow sold it to Paul and Liam Connor . Carla inherited Paul ' s half of the factory when he was killed in 2007 . Liam took on Paul ' s widow Carla and new comer Tony Gordon . When Liam was murdered by Tony ( for having an affair with Tony ' s fiancée Carla ) , Tony took over . Underworld was destroyed by a fire on 9th June 2010 but was re - opened . Carla accepted a business contract from Frank Foster who signed a contract to give him a 40 % ownership . However , Frank was murdered just a few hours after signing the deal but because the paperwork was still in his possession , the contract was not legally binding . Carla then became co - proprietor alongside Peter Barlow , after briefly being in partnership with her brother , Rob Donovan . With Peter signing his 50 % share of the business back over to his wife in July 2014 , Carla was once again the sole owner until a gambling addiction got her into financial difficulty . Originally intent on selling up , Nick Tilsley was able to contact and summon Aidan Connor , who in August 2015 offered to invest £80 , 000 in return for a 40 % share . Aidan ' s dad Johnny arrives and claims that the £80 , 000 in fact belongs to him and he agrees to help Carla on the condition that he has joint control over the business . Johnny runs the factory alongside Aidan following Carla ' s departure for a fresh start in Devon . In January 2017 , Johnny revealed that he was preparing to retire and planned to hand his share of the factory over to Aidan . However , he later discovers that Adam and Peter Barlow were planning to sue the Connors for conning Adam out of his share of the factor when he was only a child The curse of Underworld . Underworld is notorious for strings of bad luck and death in recent years , including people associated with it . Mike Baldwin died after a battle with Alzheimer ' s in 2006 in the arms of rival Ken Barlow on the factory steps . In 2007 , polish worker Kasia Barowicz died from falling down the stairs . Later in the year , factory boss Paul Connor died in a car crash . A year later , his brother Liam was murdered by new factory owner Tony Gordon , who was engaged to Paul ' s widow Carla . Tony also attempted to kill pensioner Jed Stone over the Christmas period of 2008 , but had spared him and installed Jed in a flat in Wigan . Tony perished in 2010 when he burned down the factory with Carla in it , although she escaped . A month after the incident , John Stape buried his old work colleague Colin Fishwick under the factory floor after stealing his identity ; the body was recovered a year later . Carla ' s next business partner Frank Foster raped her , but was mysteriously found dead in the premises in March 2012 after conning the factory out of her . In June 2014 , Carla ' s brother and business partner , Rob Donovan , murdered local barmaid Tina McIntyre and was sent to prison for his crimes . The owners of the factory over the years have been :