He was credited with raising its journalistic standards, transforming it into a global brand, navigating its transition into the digital era, growing readership, and managing its takeover by Nikkei.

In 1981, after being named Young Journalist of the Year in the British Press Awards, he became a business correspondent at The Sunday Times,[6] having been interviewed by its editor Frank Giles.

[4] The co-writer of several books, his works include a history of Reuters news agency (The Price of Truth, 1985) and the Westland affair (Not with Honour, 1986).

[4] In his capacity as editor, Barber interviewed figures including Barack Obama, Wen Jiabao, Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Angela Merkel, David Cameron and Manmohan Singh.

[13] Barber published a memoir covering his editorship of the FT in 2020, entitled The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times.

[14][15] In 2021, Barber joined a consortium of 9 other investors, that included former BBC Director-General and The New York Times Company chief executive Mark Thompson, to purchase The New European newspaper for an undisclosed sum.