Impact Leaders: Ed Bird, Co-founder of Bird Eyewear

Ed Bird is the co-founder of Bird Eyewear, the UK’s first B Corp-certified eyewear brand. Launched in 2017 with his brothers Lawrence and Paul, Bird has built a reputation for pioneering sustainable materials, transparent supply chains, and bold storytelling in an industry dominated by convention. From winning Frame of the Year at the Optician Awards just 16 months after launch, to planting forests across Devon and Cornwall, Bird has sought to prove that eyewear can be both stylish and restorative for people and planet. Today the brand is focused on premium optical frames and deepening its partnerships with conservation organisations such as WWF, RSPB, and Love the Oceans—continuing to demonstrate that business can balance creativity, commerciality, and impact.

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Toby: Thanks for joining us, Ed. To start, could you share a little about your personal journey - your background and how it converged into launching Bird Eyewear?

Ed: My background is quite varied. I was set to go to art college, but took a detour and trained as a chef in a four-star hotel. That was incredibly creative, but then I pivoted again into education. Throughout all of that, I was always a drummer. Music was constant.

With my brothers, we were always tinkering with ideas—products, events, apps. One project involved laminated woods and aluminium for drumming, and when that ended we asked, what else can we do with this material? Somehow we landed on eyewear. We made a prototype pair of sunglasses, and within 16 months we’d won Frame of the Year at the Optician Awards. That was the moment we realised: we should launch an eyewear company.

Toby: And how did that creative, diverse background lead you to building a purpose-driven, sustainability-focused brand?

Ed: Growing up, we were always outdoors - immersed in nature. That gave us an inherent respect for it. We’d also been inspired by brands like Patagonia and Finisterre - great storytellers with purpose at their core. Storytelling is human, and for us it became a natural progression. When it came to starting our business, we asked: what kind of business do we want to be? Purpose was always central.

Toby: So what’s Bird Eyewear’s mission? How do you define and live it?

Ed: Our mission is to create better products and a Better Business. Better products - using durable, sustainable materials that are good for people and planet. And a Better Business - pioneering new ways of working in the eyewear industry.

That includes introducing sustainable materials, setting up a recycling scheme with optical stores, getting to know our supply chain intimately, and even planting our own forests across Devon and Cornwall. For us, having a tangible impact like tree planting matters.

Toby: Materials are a big part of your story. How deep have you gone into that innovation?

Ed: It’s tough because sustainable materials often lack that luxury feel premium eyewear demands. But we’ve built a trusted global web of suppliers, done a lot of due diligence, and pioneered natural dyes and innovative materials. We can often trace right back to the source - like FSC-certified wood, where we can track to the exact forest.

We’ve influenced other brands too. Seeing competitors pivot towards more sustainable materials has been one of our proudest impacts on the industry.

Toby: You’ve recently narrowed focus - no more children’s Birdies or sunglasses. Why?

Ed: The children’s glasses were made from a castor bean polymer - hugely durable, used in car bumpers. It made total sense for kids’ eyewear. But as a business, we needed focus. Online D2C is tough - expensive marketing, shifting algorithms, unpredictable weather affecting sunglasses sales.

So we’ve gone narrow into optical glasses. That’s resonated strongly with opticians, it’s leaner, and it makes us more sustainable long term.

Toby: And what about the balance of affordability and premium sustainability?

Ed: From day one, we wanted premium quality that wasn’t prohibitively expensive. People often compare us to products hundreds of pounds more expensive, yet our quality stands up. Yes, it means smaller margins, but it makes our brand more accessible. And better storytelling is worth more to us than bigger margins.

Toby: Let’s talk about growth. Have you defined what “enough” looks like?

Ed: We’ve done three funding rounds, with supportive investors aligned to our values. Initially there was a focus on exponential D2C growth, but we’ve pivoted to B2B, working through opticians.

For me, “enough” is reaching our target number of stores in the UK. Once we can comfortably serve customers nationwide, that’s our baseline of sustainability. Growth isn’t about unicorn status - it’s about building something meaningful and lasting.

Toby: Bird Eyewear was the first B Corp-certified eyewear brand in the UK back in 2020. What did that mean to you?

Ed: It was the obvious thing to do. The B Corp framework helped us align our goals beyond product - into governance, staff, supply chain. Each recertification has highlighted where we need to improve.

Even when we debated whether to recertify under the new standards, we decided it was non-negotiable. B Corp keeps us accountable, and it’s the best vehicle for aligning values. That said, even without the badge, our practices are so embedded we’d still be purpose-driven.

Toby: Partnerships are also part of your impact story - WWF, RSPB, Love the Oceans. How do you choose who to work with?

Ed: We pick partners that resonate with us and share our values. Sometimes they’re B Corps, sometimes it’s just natural alignment. Partnerships unlock creativity - for example, a WWF collaboration led us to design frames mimicking tree bark in response to Amazon conservation.

Charity partnerships also remind us we’re not the most important thing here. They shift focus back to what really matters.

Toby: What lessons would you share with other founders on the impact journey?

Ed: Don’t wait for it to be perfect. Failure and success aren’t opposites—they both point you forward. Our first glasses were nothing like today’s, but without them we’d never have got here.

Also, go on “asking expeditions”. Talk to peers, ask how they handle supply chains, staff, governance. Surround yourself with as many interesting, helpful people as you can.

Toby: And finally, mental health and working with your brothers - how do you manage balance?

Ed: Being a founder is a rollercoaster. From the outside it might look great, but inside it’s lonely and pressured. I’ve learned to prioritise what matters - my kids, school drop-offs, weekends.

Working with my brothers has been good - we’ve learned how to deal with each other. But we make sure to carve out time to just be brothers. Last week we camped on Dartmoor. That balance matters.

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This series of interviews is in support of our mission to accelerate sustainability and decarbonisation across SMEs, NGOs and value chains. By sharing experiences, lessons learned and tips and tricks to embedding sustainability, we can all learn how to improve more, faster.

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