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Our story
In 1990, when we first set up DBR in an attic in Peckham, we had no idea that we’d end up, 35 years later, with over 100 employees, a Royal Warrant and projects repairing some of the UK’s best-loved buildings. We were, however, very clear on one thing: we wanted our company to be founded on exemplary advice and quality craftmanship. These principles remain our DNA, and without them DBR wouldn’t have become what it is today.
We began as David Ball Restoration, a stonework and masonry subcontractor working for the likes of Mowlem and Trollope & Colls. In the early days it was all hands on deck – we’d load all our materials and equipment into the back of the car and head off to site. At the time, there were lots of buildings in London with decaying stonework and our work felt pioneering. Years of pollution from solid fuels and then wartime damage by bombs and fire meant many structures hadn’t had any attention for decades. There was little real interest in preserving or cleaning historic buildings, so we were developing new techniques all the time.
Adrian Attwood ACR
Executive director/chairman
David Lucas
Managing director
As we grew, we realised we needed to broaden our offer. With a background in masonry drafting, David Ball brought strong technical expertise and he gathered around him others with complementary skills: Adrian Attwood on building management, David Lucas with joinery skills. What connected that early team was a passion for historic buildings and the knowledge that if DBR’s business could be process as well as craft driven, we’d be more commercial and we’d be able to demonstrate compliance. In 2004 Alan Bilham joined, strengthening our board and Giles Bilbrough joined the Board in 2023.
What set us apart, of course, was not just our pricing but our attention to detail, and the characteristics we had as a fledgeling company never left us as DBR continued to grow. We knew that the repair of these precious buildings required exceptional craftsmanship, and we backed it up with technical knowhow and quality service.
Nelson's Column
Restoration
Our commission to refurbish Nelson’s Column in the mid-2000s was an important milestone. With David Ball leaving the company in 2000 we had become DBR (London) Limited, but we knew we needed to reflect on where we’d come from and where we were going. We commissioned Steve Edge to work with us and found that developing our story and values was an enormously cathartic process. The relaunch of the business – held at Temple Church – gave us all new impetus.
By the end of the 2000's, we realised that to give our clients better value we needed to expand our offering. Working with likeminded leadwork and roofing experts at Hampton Court Palace, we took the opportunity to bring them on board forming DBR Leadwork. We now had a diverse skillset which encompassed all types of work to historic façades and roofing fabric: a fully integrated external conservation service.
Soon afterwards, seeing that bringing resources out of London was costly, we established DBR Southern, which operates with local skills to deliver regional projects more economically. We have also brought our expertise indoors. During a project to conserve the sgraffito façade at the Victoria & Albert Museum we established DBR Conservation. Headed up by a talented conservator, the team carries out polychrome and object conservation as well as repairs to interior historic fabric. This now means we can deal with an entire building conservation project both inside and out.
Continuing our opportunistic expansion DBR Fire Safety was set up in 2017 following our commission to undertake a significant fire safety upgrade at the Palace of Westminster. We saw that fire safety in this kind of heritage context could only be carried out sympathetically if the specialists involved had a deep understanding of historic significance. Our latest chapter is the establishment of DBR Special Projects to deliver heritage schemes in Oxfordshire & Bristol.
The common thread running through our project portfolio is, of course, historic building conservation, but we also deal with newer structures built using traditional techniques. We work on buildings from palaces to private houses, cathedrals to parochial churches, town halls to monuments. They may be multi-million-pound conservation schemes or more modest-sized projects, but we are always committed to those same principles of quality and craftsmanship that we started out with.
Over 35 years, our challenges as building conservationists have changed. With a growing interest in retrofit and an urgent need to respond to the climate emergency, we are developing new skills and approaches, combining traditional techniques with modern science. We have moved to predominantly lime-based and reversible materials, and we are upgrading roofing so that it has a greater capacity to deal with significant rain fall. We are taking advantage of technological innovation around data capture, bringing in renewal energy systems and sustainable insulation, and utilising laser technology for sensitive cleaning.
We are also more aware of the impact our projects can have on communities, and the social value of our work. Recognising that many traditional skills are becoming scarce, we have set up workshops in Erith and a Heritage Skills Education Centre in the South Downs National Park. We are championing the development of new craft skills through our Year of the Master Craftsperson Campaign, sponsoring craft scholars in partnership with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) and as founder members of the Heritage Skills Forum.
As a company, DBR has transformed in size, reach and depth. We have offices in central London, Sussex, Oxford and Bristol, and alongside our craftspeople employ skilled managers and administrative teams. We hold ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001, and plan to be Net Zero by 2030. In December 2024 were granted a new Royal Warrant to His Majesty King Charles III, following on from our earlier warrant to Queen Elizabeth II. We have won awards from organisations including the Stone Federation, RICS, Europa Nostra, Sussex Heritage Trust and the Civic Trust.
But alongside these accolades our core values have stood the test of time. It’s important to us to excel in what we know and do well, drawing from the talents and technical prowess of our employees and supply chain. Passion for what we do and pride in our work are essential ingredients in delivering an exemplary service, and our love for the job has been a significant element in our success.
DBR has come from small beginnings and has transformed into a multi-million pound conservation business through the dedication of our people. In the future it will be with our younger staff and craftspeople to maintain our core values and to meet the new challenges of this ever-changing world – innovation, climate change, skills and compliance – with fresh eyes, and fully committed to making sure the past has a future.
