Barry Roberts’ media work began with jewellery, grew into a London guide by a Londoner, and now sits across a wider portfolio of companies, publications and channels.
What started as a company blog became Roberts London: a way of looking at places, culture, design and useful life in the city. The lessons learned from that work now inform a more disciplined media structure, with each company developing its own voice, audience and record.
The story began with a jewellery company.
In 2007, Roberts & Co launched with a simple company blog intended to share news and developments from the business. As social media emerged, those updates gradually expanded beyond the workshop to include London itself — its streets, restaurants, museums, craftsmanship, architecture and the people who shape the city.
What started as company communication slowly became something else: a London guide by a Londoner. That project evolved into Roberts London, creating films, articles and a growing body of work that reached audiences through YouTube, Amazon Prime and its own editorial platform.
Roberts London proved that media could give a company reach, character and cultural depth. It also proved that media needs its own discipline.
A company should be able to speak clearly as a company. A media project should be free to observe, publish, film and explore without confusing the identity of the business behind it.
That lesson now shapes the wider structure. Roberts London stands apart as the cultural and editorial media arm, while each company develops its own channel, voice and public record.
Today, media sits across the wider portfolio with clearer purpose.
Roberts London continues as the cultural and editorial platform. The Company of Extraordinary Companies records the development of the wider structure. Individual companies now have their own journals, social channels and public records, shaped around their own work, audience and identity.
Barry Roberts often appears within these channels as writer, presenter or host, but the purpose is no longer to turn every company into a personal media project. The purpose is to give each company a clear voice of its own.
The media continues to evolve alongside the work.
Future projects will include new films, interviews, Design Papers, journals and editorial collaborations across the wider portfolio. As new companies develop and existing ones mature, each will continue to build its own public record while contributing to a growing archive of work, ideas and observations.
The aim is not simply to document what has been made, but to share what has been learned along the way.