John Bird

Founder of The Big Issue

“When I see the huge amount of people sending me emails with great ideas for social enterprises, asking me for advice, and when I meet the young social entrepreneurs themselves at events, I know that social enterprise is the up and coming trend in the UK.

People want to buy with a good conscience and savvy entrepreneurs can meet the demand for transparent, eco-friendly products. People want authenticity; they want individuality and they want to be able to express their difference and I think we are seeing a switch towards quality instead of quantity. Slowly, there is a return to more simplicity in our consumption, and more ‘home made’ products on offer. Restructuring the way the market produces and delivers will open lots of routes into ethical businesses that use socially responsible means.

However, social entrepreneurs are caught in a tricky situation In a sense, they’re just financial entrepreneurs displaced by the fact that it’s no longer right or sexy to be a greedy bastard. Their drive comes from a desire to make their mark in social change. But, as always, it’s a question of demand and supply. Creating a company is simple in the UK. Funding the project is the complicated part. It is a pity if good ideas don’t become reality because of funding. I created Big Issue-Big Invest with that in mind. It is led by social entrepreneurs and staffed by social financiers. Big Issue Invest is a social enterprise that is a specialised provider of finance to other social enterprises.

The other side of funding is that must be remembered is that experimentation like this requires failure. Over the years there have been countless mistakes at the Big Issue and I would celebrate that. If you get it right the first time you will never know how you got it right: success with no cock-ups is impossible. Entrepreneurship should be encouraged and funded with this is mind.”

John started life in a London Irish ghetto - full of poverty, aggression and violence. His family was made homeless when he was five years-old and he was put in an orphanage at the age of seven. Between then and starting up the Big Issue, John spent most of his life being dishonest: shoplifting, housebreaking and car stealing. After a spell in Paris, he came back to the UK and started a successful printing business. Seventeen years later he started The Big Issue.