Fire-Bird International was set up by Christopher Harris, a member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation who is an occasional lecturer on historic fenestration and roofing.

Having grown up and been educated in lovely historic buildings, Chris started his working life in mechanical engineering, but during the 1980s the love of old houses drew him away and, since then, he has worked on English Heritage committees and been responsible for the development of new, more sensible conservation policies.

Over the years Chris has worked with many of the top historic building specialists and architects. Knowing that owners of the loveliest houses are often “property rich and cash poor”, the architect responsible for The Royal Hospital, Chelsea (one of Sir Christopher Wren’s greatest masterpieces) asked him whether he could find a source of the highest quality bespoke joinery in the Far East, as it is more important for our heritage that these buildings are conserved using the proper methods and materials than sourcing from the EU and having to cut corners.

Many of our most important buildings, from Canterbury Cathedral to the Tower of London were built by foreign workmen using materials sourced from overseas (in those cases Caen Stone from France and itinerant European masons), and buildings from the end of the Stuart era onwards used vast amounts of tropical hardwoods and other non indigenous materials both in the fabric of and furnishing the houses.