The Big Issue
The Big Issue
John Bird, Founder and editor-in-chief
The Big Issue began with 10 vendors and one publication and has now spawned a whole group of initiatives with a global reach, all focused on using enterprise to create opportunities for vulnerable people.
When Social Enterprise Ambassador John Bird founded The Big Issue with Gordon Roddick in 1991, he had different ideas about how to reduce rough sleeping and its associated problems. A former rough sleeper, his innovative concept was to offer homeless people a 'hand-up, not a hand-out'. The Big Issue magazine gave socially excluded people the chance to earn a legitimate income.
Today, twenty years later, more than 2,500 homeless vendors in the UK buy the weekly magazine for 75 pence and sell it for £1.50, making 50% profit per issue. The business turns over £6million.
Bird says that The Big Issue’s influence is greater than the business itself. It is a founding member of the International Network of Street Papers, which represents similar social businesses in 50 countries and The Big Issue trademark has been adopted by magazines in Asia, Africa and Australia.
'Growth is dangerous,' says John, 'but the key is to keep things simple. If what you’re offering starts getting too complex, it’s losing its way.' The main focus has always been to create a magazine to rival anything sold on the news stand.
'Because it’s a social enterprise, it inspires everyone. No one is accumulating a profit; it’s not exploitative, it's just people's talent.'
'There is a lot of work to be done, and that’s where social businesses come in.'
Quick Facts
· The Big Issue Foundation has met and worked with over 10,000 vendors since 1995.
· Big Issue Invest provides between £50,000 and £200,000 of loan finance for social enterprises at competitive rates.
· A study by management consultants McKinsey & Co described The Big Issue as the most trusted and well-known social enterprise brand in the UK.