Editorial Standards

A continuing study of London

Roberts London is an editorial, media and retail publication devoted to living and working in London.

Through articles, photography, film and observation, it explores the city’s hospitality, art and culture, shops and stores, landmarks, institutions, people, objects and everyday rituals.

Roberts London is not presented as a finished authority on the city. It is a continuing study developed through direct experience, careful observation, conversation, archive material and supporting research.

Our underlying method is simple:

Go somewhere real.
Look carefully.
Notice something specific.
Connect it to London life.
Record it calmly.

These standards explain how that method is applied across the Roberts London website, Journal, films, social channels and related editorial work.

Editorial responsibility

Roberts London is created and published by Barry Roberts through Roberts & Co.

Barry Roberts is responsible for the selection, preparation, publication and correction of material published under the Roberts London name.

Writers, photographers, researchers, editors, interviewees and commercial partners may contribute to individual pieces. Their involvement does not remove Roberts London’s responsibility for the work it publishes.

Read Publisher Information →

Editorial independence

Editorial subjects are selected because they contribute to the continuing Roberts London study of the city.

Coverage may be shaped by:

Direct experience.
Editorial interest.
Cultural or historical importance.
Quality of design, craftsmanship or service.
A subject’s relationship with London life.
The strength of the available story, photography or film.
Questions raised through previous Roberts London work.
The interests and judgement of the publisher.

A business, venue, institution or individual cannot purchase an independent editorial conclusion.

Paid work, advertising, affiliate relationships and other material commercial arrangements will be identified clearly and kept distinguishable from independent editorial content.

Read Commercial Relationships →

What Roberts London publishes

Roberts London may publish:

First-hand accounts of places and experiences.
Reviews and recommendations.
Interviews and conversations.
Historical and cultural research.
Essays and personal observations.
Photography and films.
Archive material.
Studies of products and objects.
News or updates relevant to its editorial subjects.
Clearly identified commercial features.
Information concerning products offered through the Roberts London Shop.

The depth and method of a piece will depend upon its purpose.

A short Notebook observation will not necessarily use the same research process as a substantial historical article. A personal account may be more interpretative than a reference page. The same expectation of honesty, accuracy and clarity applies to every format.

Accuracy

Roberts London aims to publish information that is accurate, supportable and presented in its proper context.

Reasonable checks before publication may include:

Direct observation or first-hand experience.
Checking names, dates, locations and quotations.
Consulting primary or authoritative sources.
Comparing several sources where accounts differ.
Examining original documents, photographs or objects.
Asking a person or organisation to clarify relevant information.
Distinguishing established facts from inference or opinion.
Reviewing headlines, captions and images for consistency with the accompanying work.

The level of verification will reflect the nature and seriousness of the subject.

A passing observation about a dining room does not demand the same process as a disputed historical claim or a statement capable of materially affecting a person or organisation.

Accuracy does not require Roberts London to avoid judgement, criticism or interpretation. It requires the factual basis of that judgement to be handled responsibly.

Fact, experience and opinion

Roberts London aims to distinguish between:

Verifiable fact.
Direct personal experience.
Editorial opinion.
Historical interpretation.
Reasonable inference.
Information supplied by another person or organisation.
Commercial or promotional claims.

An account of atmosphere, service, beauty, taste or significance inevitably involves judgement. Other people may reasonably reach a different conclusion.

Words such as “appears”, “may”, “is believed to”, “according to” or “we understand” will be used where certainty would be misleading.

A strongly expressed opinion will not knowingly be presented as an established fact.

Direct visits and first-hand accounts

Where an article is based upon a direct visit or experience, Roberts London aims to represent that experience honestly.

Relevant circumstances may include:

The date or period of the visit.
Whether the visit was anonymous, arranged or hosted.
Whether a meal, room, ticket, service or product was paid for, complimentary, gifted or provided on loan.
Whether the subject knew editorial coverage was being considered.
Whether a significant part of the normal experience was unavailable.
Whether the account reflects one visit or a longer relationship with the subject.

Not every ordinary detail needs to be stated. Information will be disclosed where it could reasonably affect the reader’s understanding of the work.

A direct visit does not make every conclusion permanent. Staff, menus, prices, exhibitions, ownership, opening hours, stock and standards may change after publication.

Read Reviews & Recommendations →

Research and sources

Roberts London may draw upon:

First-hand observation.
Interviews and correspondence.
Official records and publications.
Books, catalogues and archives.
Museum, gallery and institutional material.
Historic newspapers and directories.
Reputable journalism and specialist publications.
Business and venue information.
Product documentation.
Publicly available digital sources.

Primary and authoritative sources will be preferred where they are available and proportionate to the subject.

Secondary sources may be used to establish context, compare accounts or identify areas requiring further investigation.

Information supplied by a business, press office, seller or commercial partner will not automatically be treated as independently verified fact.

Where reliable sources disagree, Roberts London may:

Describe the disagreement.
Attribute the competing accounts.
Explain which interpretation appears best supported.
State that the available evidence does not permit a firm conclusion.

Research notes and supporting material may be retained where reasonably necessary to verify or defend published work.

Attribution and quotations

Words, ideas, research, photography and other original work belonging to another person or organisation should be attributed where appropriate.

Direct quotations should preserve the speaker’s or writer’s material meaning. Quotations may be shortened or lightly edited for clarity, repetition or length where doing so does not distort what was said.

Roberts London will not knowingly present another person’s original work as its own.

Third-party photographs, illustrations, documents and archive material will be used only where Roberts London reasonably believes that it has permission, a licence or another lawful basis for publication. Required credits will be included where appropriate.

Interviews and conversations

Before a formal interview or substantive recorded conversation, Roberts London will normally make the intended editorial purpose clear.

Unless a different arrangement has been expressly agreed:

A conversation may be edited for length and clarity.
Publication is not conditional upon approval by the interviewee.
Factual points may be checked without surrendering editorial control.
An interviewee may identify a genuine factual misunderstanding.
Roberts London retains responsibility for the final published work.

An interviewee may be shown their direct quotations or specific factual details where this is useful, but this does not ordinarily provide a right to approve the complete article, headline, photography or editorial conclusion.

Promises of anonymity, confidentiality or off-the-record treatment will not be given casually. Where such an arrangement is clearly agreed, Roberts London will take reasonable steps to honour it.

Fairness and the opportunity to respond

Where Roberts London intends to publish a serious factual allegation or substantial criticism concerning an identifiable person or organisation, it may seek a response before publication where doing so is appropriate and practicable.

The subject should be given a fair understanding of the substance of the matter and a reasonable opportunity to respond.

A refusal to comment will not prevent publication where the work is otherwise responsibly supported.

Responses may be edited for length while preserving their material meaning.

Roberts London is not required to:

Provide advance editorial approval.
Surrender control of a headline or article.
Publish every point submitted in response.
Withdraw accurate and supportable work merely because its subject objects to it.

A proportionate response or clarification may be added after publication where that improves the accuracy or fairness of the record.

Privacy and personal information

Roberts London seeks to balance legitimate editorial work with respect for privacy and personal dignity.

Before publishing personal information, consideration may be given to:

Whether it is relevant to the editorial subject.
Whether the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Whether the information is already genuinely public.
The circumstances in which it became available.
Whether consent has been given.
The possible consequences of publication.
Whether the same editorial purpose can be achieved with less personal detail.
Whether there is a sufficient public-interest or other legitimate editorial reason for publication.

A person’s private home address, personal telephone number, private email address, financial information and similarly sensitive details will not normally be published without a compelling and lawful reason.

The fact that personal information can be found somewhere online does not, by itself, make republication necessary or appropriate.

Personal information used in the operation of the website, shop and correspondence is addressed separately in the Roberts London Privacy Notice.

Read the Privacy Notice →

Children and vulnerable people

Additional care will be taken where editorial work concerns children or people whose circumstances may make informed participation difficult.

Roberts London will consider:

Whether participation and consent are meaningful.
Whether a parent, guardian or responsible adult should be involved.
Whether identifying the person is necessary.
Whether publication could create disproportionate embarrassment, distress or risk.
Whether the editorial purpose can be achieved without revealing identity or private circumstances.
The long-term effect that online publication could have upon the individual.

The interests, safety and dignity of a child will ordinarily take priority over the convenience or visual appeal of publishing identifiable material.

Photography and filming in London

Roberts London frequently works through photography and film made in public, commercial and cultural spaces.

When photographing or filming, Roberts London will consider:

The nature of the location.
Any photography restrictions imposed by the venue.
Whether a person is incidental to the wider scene or the principal subject.
Whether the circumstances create a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Whether the image could cause avoidable embarrassment, distress or risk.
Whether particular permission or consent is appropriate.
Whether children or vulnerable people are identifiable.
Whether an image accurately represents the subject with which it appears.

Crowds, streets and public interiors may include incidental figures. Roberts London will not ordinarily identify an incidental member of the public unless identification is editorially relevant and responsibly justified.

Photography will not knowingly be captioned or placed in a manner that falsely suggests a person’s participation in, responsibility for or endorsement of something unrelated to the original scene.

Dignity and discrimination

Roberts London will not make prejudicial or pejorative references to a person’s race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, illness or other personal characteristic unless that characteristic is genuinely relevant to the editorial subject.

Descriptions should be precise, relevant and proportionate rather than included for sensation or unnecessary emphasis.

Criticism of an idea, organisation, work, service or public action is distinct from gratuitous hostility towards a person because of an irrelevant personal characteristic.

Grief, distress and difficult circumstances

Where a subject involves grief, shock, illness, injury or another deeply personal circumstance, Roberts London will approach individuals with sensitivity.

The existence of public interest or public curiosity does not remove the need for care.

Unnecessary detail, repeated approaches or intrusive imagery should be avoided where they add little to the legitimate editorial purpose.

Headlines, captions and presentation

Headlines, introductions, captions, thumbnails and social-media posts should be supported by the work to which they refer.

They should not knowingly:

Create a materially false impression.
Attribute words or actions to the wrong person.
Present speculation as confirmed fact.
Use an image in a misleading context.
Conceal the commercial nature of an advertisement.
Exaggerate a conclusion beyond what the underlying article supports.

A dramatic or elegant presentation remains subject to the same expectations of accuracy as the article itself.

Documentary and created imagery

Roberts London distinguishes between documentary photography and created editorial imagery.

A documentary image records an actual person, place, event or object. Created imagery may be used to establish atmosphere, introduce a category or express an editorial idea.

Created or materially altered imagery will not knowingly be presented as documentary proof of an event, visit, person or object that did not exist in the form shown.

Detailed standards concerning generative tools, composites and created imagery are set out separately.

Read the Image & AI Policy →

Commercial material

Advertising, paid partnerships, affiliate content and other controlled commercial communications will be made recognisable as commercial material.

Roberts London may use clear descriptions including:

Advertisement.
Paid Partnership.
Advertisement Feature.
Affiliate Link.
Hosted Visit.
Gifted.
Loaned for Review.
Affiliated Company.

The precise wording will reflect the nature of the relationship.

An ordinary press invitation or complimentary experience does not automatically turn all resulting coverage into an advertisement. It will nevertheless be disclosed where the benefit could reasonably matter to the reader.

Read Commercial Relationships →

Affiliated houses and projects

Roberts London forms part of The Company of Extraordinary Companies and may publish work concerning related houses, businesses and projects.

Where Roberts London and the subject share ownership, management or another material relationship, that connection will be disclosed prominently.

Such work will not be presented as an independent review of an unrelated organisation.

Editorial writing about an affiliated house may still include history, design analysis, documentation, interviews and opinion, but the relationship must remain clear to the reader.

The Roberts London Shop

Editorial coverage and retail activity may exist beside one another, but they serve different purposes.

A Roberts London article may discuss an object, artist, maker, street or collecting subject that is also represented within the shop. Where a direct commercial connection is material, it will be disclosed.

Product pages are commercial material and are intended to describe goods offered for sale. They are not independent reviews of those goods.

Product descriptions should nevertheless be:

Accurate.
Supportable.
Clear about known materials and dimensions.
Honest about condition and restoration.
Careful about uncertain age, authorship or provenance.
Free from claims that cannot reasonably be substantiated.

Gifts, loans and samples

Roberts London may receive books, catalogues, tickets, products, press materials or objects for consideration.

Receiving an item does not guarantee:

Publication.
A favourable opinion.
Permanent inclusion in the Roberts London collection.
Social-media coverage.
Return by a particular date unless this has been agreed.

Items provided on loan remain the property of their owner and should be handled and returned in accordance with the agreed arrangements.

A gift, loan or complimentary benefit will be disclosed where it is material to the reader’s understanding of the resulting work.

Conflicts of interest

A personal, financial or organisational connection may affect how readers interpret a piece even where the work has been prepared honestly.

Relevant relationships may therefore be disclosed, including:

Common ownership or management.
A close personal or professional relationship.
A financial interest in the subject.
A paid consultancy or commission.
A significant gift or hosted experience.
The sale of a featured product through the Roberts London Shop.

Not every remote or historic connection requires disclosure. The question is whether a reasonable reader would consider the relationship material when assessing the work.

External links

Links may be included to provide context, identify a source, allow direct booking or purchasing, or help readers continue their own research.

A link does not necessarily indicate:

Endorsement of everything on the external website.
Responsibility for its content.
A continuing relationship with its operator.
That information on the linked page will remain unchanged.

Affiliate links and other links producing a commercial benefit for Roberts London will be identified where required.

Publication dates and updates

Roberts London aims to show an original publication date for substantive editorial work.

A page may also show a later updated or reviewed date where material changes have been made.

Minor corrections to spelling, formatting or presentation may be made without an update note.

A visible note may be added where an amendment:

Corrects a significant factual error.
Changes the meaning of a passage.
Adds an important response or clarification.
Substantially updates practical information.
Replaces imagery that could have created a misleading impression.

Historic articles may remain available as a record of the circumstances and understanding that existed when they were first published.

Corrections

Roberts London welcomes the identification of possible factual errors.

Clear errors will be corrected as promptly and transparently as is reasonable. The form of correction will reflect the significance of the original mistake.

A correction may involve:

Amending the text.
Correcting a name, date, figure or caption.
Replacing a misleading image.
Adding a clarification.
Publishing an update or correction note.
Adding a relevant response.
Removing material where continued publication cannot be justified.

Roberts London will not ordinarily remove accurate editorial work solely because it has become inconvenient or is disliked by its subject.

Read Corrections & Complaints →

Complaints and questions

Questions about these standards or concerns regarding published editorial material may be sent to:

Email: info@roberts-and-co.com

Post:

Barry Roberts
Roberts & Co
PO Box 458
1 Croydon Road
Beckenham
Kent BR3 9FN
United Kingdom

Please identify the relevant article, page, photograph or film and explain the point at issue as clearly as possible.

Editorial complaints are considered under the Roberts London Corrections & Complaints policy.

Status of these standards

These are the editorial standards adopted by Roberts London.

They do not create a contractual right for a third party and do not prevent Roberts London from exercising lawful editorial judgement in individual circumstances.

The standards may be reviewed as the publication, shop, law, technology and accepted publishing practice develop.

Related information

Last reviewed: 18 July 2026