Ann French has worked in the field of Textile Conservation for nearly thirty years for a variety of institutions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Glasgow Museums, the Area Museums Council for the South West and the National Trust for England and Wales.  She has been employed at the Whitworth Art Gallery, the University of Manchester since 2002 as Conservator (Textiles), being responsible for all textile based material in its collections encompassing post-Pharaonic textiles from Egypt, European textiles and vestments from 15th to 18th centuries, Mediterranean and Islamic embroideries from 17th to 20th centuries, works of William Morris and other Arts & Crafts designers, 20th century British furnishing textiles and contemporary art textiles.   Since 2011 she has combined this role with that of Collection Care Manager which involves personnel and volunteer management, collections management, exhibitions and loans, environmental and insect pest monitoring, conservation treatment and documentation, and managing the conservation studio. 

In addition, she teaches conservation and collection care seminars for the universities of Manchester, Glasgow & East Anglia.  She supervises student work placements and assists with supervising conservation based student essays and dissertations.  She is currently working towards a PhD in the Department of Museology at Manchester University.  She has also contributed to conservation’s professional body, ICON, as chair of the Textiles Group, as a member of the managing committee and of the accreditation committee.