I am internationally renowned in stained glass conservation. I was awarded the MBE in in 2015 for service to cultural restoration and conservation, in particular for my work at St Mary's Church, Fairford, which also formed the subject of my MA by research awarded by the University of York in 2017. I founded Barley Studio in 1973 after an apprenticeship with York Glaziers' Trust, where I worked on York Minster's famous Rose Window.

I was the Master of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass for 2017-2018, one of the few practising glaziers to be given this honour. I am an ICON accredited conservator (ACR), conservation adviser to the UK Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA), external assessor for the Register of Architects Accredited in Building Conservation (AABC) and Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters (FMGP).

I am a Master Glazier for Ely Cathedral and I have consulted for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Art (Boston), St Patrick's Cathedral (New York) and the Cathedral of Sienna. I have published widely on conservation and protection of stained glass.