About Us

Canford & Co is owned by Lucy Shapland and Annabelle Dodd, who have been friends since they were at school together. Their aim is to make artwork look beautiful and to preserve it for future generations.

Your art is safe with Canford. All board is conservation quality, which means it doesn’t contain damaging acid, and it won’t turn an unsightly brown either. We use strictly conservation framing techniques, unless a customer expressly requests otherwise. In other words, we protect and enhance art and we don’t alter its original condition.

Lucy has worked for both private galleries, including Sladmore Gallery, and publicly owned collections such as Newcastle’s Hatton Gallery. Her design flair was developed when she ran her own haute couture dress making business.

Annabelle edited art and framing trade magazine Art Business Today for 20 years and is author of books including Framing and Presenting Textile Art, Frame Design and The Artist’s Guide to Selling Work.

Lucy and Annabelle have been joined by Nic Lewis, a picture framer with an eye for detail that’s second to none, super-human energy and a wealth of knowledge about running a business.

Lisa Hiley is our latest recruit. When not making bespoke clothes for private clients, teaching dressmaking and providing restaurant-quality food for her family, Lisa finishes frames, oversees quality control and helps create shop displays.

We are called Canford & Co. The ‘& Co’ bit refers to our associates Betty, Nimrod, Ottie and Mabel. They also act as our security team, alerting us to any interesting activity on the street.