About Us

We have restored and sold over 4,000 iconic manual typewriters across many different brands, models, decades and origins. Whether you are looking to acquire a piece of history, add to a collection, purchase a beautiful quality gift or are seeking creativity in your writing we invite you to discover our online store.

Charlie Foxtrot was founded by Julie and Philip Chapman in 2012. What started as a small online business selling a few typewriters in Sydney Australia has now grown into an internationally recognised and celebrated independent brand.

Now based in rural Dorset England the Charlie Foxtrot workshop is run by Philip, a self trained technician with many years of experience while Julie specialises in the final detailing and quality finishing of these wonderful writing machines.

Over the years we have gained a wealth of knowledge on repairing and servicing manual typewriters and have been fortunate to know and continue to work with a small band of experienced professional typewriter engineers both in the UK and in Australia with over 200 years experience between them.

We are passionate about what we do and in purchasing a Charlie Foxtrot typewriter you are guaranteed to receive a quality cleaned and serviced working machine, just-add-paper. Every machine that passes through the workshop is deep cleaned after years of neglect. We remove the rust, replace deteriorated rubber and hardware, repair what is worn, replace what is broken and adjust typing alignment, followed by a final wax, test and polish. Our typewriters leave our workshop as an all-in one ready-to-write tool with the original case included. Our Charlie Foxtrot Typewriters are celebrated by writers, poets, journalists, script writers, artists, songwriters, romantics, scrap bookers, designers, creative young minds and those of us now more than ever who are seeking solace in the slow life movement and going without our devices from time to time.

“A typewriter is a lesson in coping with the imperfections in life, reminding us to just exist and be present in the everyday”.

We are featured often in editorial and radio including BBC Radio 4, The Times, The Telegraph, Homes & Antiques, Reclaim Magazine, Daily Express, Country Living, Frankie and Country Style Australia. Over the years our workshop has been part of specialist projects working closely with various TV and Film production teams including the BBC, Warner Bros, Mammoth Screen, ABC and several West End theatre companies. Our most recent project was restoring 36 incredible 1920-1940 standard typewriters for Warner Brothers London.

We understand retailing and are committed to supporting our customers. With over 30 years brand management experience, our service and help we offer extends long after your typewriter has been delivered.

Julie & Philip