John Livingston visits current Warrant holders Barley Communications

Last week Chair of the Stationers’ Warrant Committee, John Livingston visited current Warrant holders Barley Communications as they celebrate 10 years as an award winning social purpose agency. 

Co-CEO, James Ford met John at their Central London base to talk about the current direction of the agency. 

James explained purpose is important to Barley, they have to believe in the organisation or message they are supporting. He believes it is vital to cohesion within the company. Barley’s work for Keep Britain Tidy is an example. It included Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight which successfully transformed a complex legal and environmental issue into a clear public call to action. It won them PR Team of the Year at the Charity Times Awards 2026. 

This is just the latest in a long line of awards Barley has received, and follows on from Consultancy of the Year, at the Better Society Awards 2025 and many more. James explains that part of Barley’s strategy is to produce award winning work across a range of sectors. “It keeps our standards high and we appreciate our work being independently recognised”. 

Asked if there are any organisations Barley would not work with, James cited a highly lucrative contract they were offered from a fossil fuel company which they were not comfortable accepting. As an employee-owned company and B –Corp, everyone buys into the project and this allows Barley to sacrifice short-term advantage in the interests of achieving a common mind–set, allowing them to be closer to the projects they work on. 

During the visit Warrant Chair, John watched a presentation by Associate Liveryman and Barley director James McCollum showcasing coverage of a recent medical conference. A co-operative approach to the use of the latest recording and editing facilities allowed Barley to post content within 2 hours of the end of each day’s event. This drove interest in the event for the following day. Careful preparation allowed innovative use of Smart Phones producing excellent quality content at a fraction of the cost of a camera crew.  

Barley states “We work with the brightest and the best – inquisitive, energetic people who are canny enough to develop a forensic understanding of our clients, their goals and their target audiences”. Asked how this works in practice, co-CEO James explained “We have a team of Barley employees who are supported by a larger group of highly talented specialists. Given our sector continues to diversify, we find that our agile model is perfect as we can meet our clients’ requirements by offering a very broad range of services from paid advertising to podcasts and stakeholder management to media relations”. 

James explained the importance of using their IMPACT model to ensure success. “Immersing yourself in the client’s organisation and seeing things from their perspective is vital”.  This ensures client and agency understand the objectives both long-term and short-term. A good example of this closer working relationship was East West Rail: Following the 2024 General Election, Barley suggested and were commissioned to design and deliver the first 100 days programme to establish strong relationships with the new government and build successful advocacy with influential stakeholders. 

Asked if the increasingly diverse media landscape causes challenges, James smiled and declared that it gave Barley far more tools in the box like hyper local ads and using the right influencer to accurately direct the message to the target audience.   

Barley’s social purpose approach has wider benefits to the organisations and people they touch: Their and events support for Leadenhall Market drives footfall from City workers, helping drive the move to office which in turn provides work for so many other trades represented by the Stationers’ Company. 

CEO James Ford looks forward to continuing his association with the Company and the Warrants scheme. 

Picture features Chair of Warrants John Livingston, the Barley team and Etta the dog.