The original Heal's business was started in 1810 by John Harris Heal. Originally a bed-making firm, Heal's was run as a family business designing, manufacturing and selling furniture, applied arts, interior decorating and household goods until 1983. The business has subsequently been in a number of ownerships trading as a retailer.

The notability of Heal's rests upon the achievements of Sir Ambrose Heal who worked in the company as craftsman, designer and finally Chairman for 60 years from 1893 until 1953. Ambrose Heal's contribution to the business, and to British furniture making and applied design, was his marriage of the ethos of the Arts and Crafts Movement as to beauty and utility with the techniques and economics of commerce. The combination of good design with industrial production was contrary to the moral, hand crafted principles of the Arts and Crafts Movement but corresponded with certain European approaches to bringing high calibre product design to a middle class market.

Following the precedent of the Deutscher Werkbund, which had been established in Germany in 1907, Ambrose Heal was one of the group of designers, industrialists and businessmen who founded the Designs and Industries Association in 1915 which had the slogan, "Nothing need be ugly". Heal developed his own business as a design, manufacturing and retail concern in accordance with this philosophy of which he was a key proponent.