Paul Roberts
Honorary President of William Moore & Grey Ltd.
Member of the International Advisory Board
United Kingdom
Paul Roberts is Honorary President of William Moore & Grey and the managing director of J. Roberts & Son Gunmakers Ltd.
His passion for shotguns was ignited by his father Joseph ‘Pip’ Roberts at the tender age of six, his first air rifle bought at seven and the collecting and dealing bug developed by fourteen. In the early 1950’s Paul joined his father at premises in London’s West End and developed the gunmaking and dealing side of the business. Hunting and buying visits to India, hours spent at Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses, attendance at gun shows worldwide – fraternizing with the world’s leading collectors and dealers – combined with ‘product testing’ safaris in Africa, have resulted in producing a gunmaker whose expertise and inherent gun knowledge is superlative.
His extensive knowledge and skills were honed in the field, market place and factory by renovating, repairing and dealing in English guns, old and new, German Mausers and Lugers, the new Italian and Spanish shotguns and a large selection of American firearms. In the 1970’s he started working closely with traditional British gunmakers John Rigby & Co., eventually purchasing the company in the 1980’s when Paul brought his considerable knowledge into the manufacturing field, successfully re-establishing the brand to its former pre-war glory days. An affiliation with WJ Jeffery & Co further enhanced his area of expertise and continued to keep Paul in the forefront of British gunmaking. Over the years and to this day, his employees continue to benefit from his knowledge and insight.