Notable films from the studio include Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time Bandits, The Long Good Friday and Withnail and I.

[8] Harrison served as executive producer for 23 films with HandMade, including the Oscar-nominated Mona Lisa, Shanghai Surprise and Withnail and I.

[10] According to Ian Inglis, Harrison's "executive role in HandMade Films helped to sustain British cinema at a time of crisis, producing some of the country's most memorable movies of the 1980s.

[12] Following a series of box office bombs in the late 1980s and excessive debt incurred by O'Brien, which was guaranteed by Harrison, HandMade's financial situation became precarious.

[18][19] In June 1999, The Equator Group plc became the exclusive distributor and manager of the HandMade Films library,[20] and attempted to purchase the company from Cartier outright, but negotiations were unsuccessful until a reverse takeover agreement with Hand Made Holdings Ltd[21] announced on 15 May 2006.

[22] The Equator Group reincorporated as HandMade Plc on 8 June 2006[23] and the new company was traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) stock exchange (changing its ticker symbol from EQG to HMF).

Trading of HandMade plc shares was suspended several times, notably June to October 2009, after the company failed to provide 2008 audit results to shareholders.