Thirty-five years after its founding, The Big Issue continues to operate with the ultimate goal of becoming obsolete, according to its founder, John Bird. Bird established the magazine, which is sold by vendors experiencing homelessness or sleeping rough, with the hope that it would not be needed within a year. However, he maintains that fostering entrepreneurship is a powerful tool for tackling destitution.
"The best cure for poverty is to get as far away from it as possible," Bird asserted. "If you skill yourself away from the £15 an hour job, you increase the chances."
Bird's philosophy centers on the idea that individuals who have experienced poverty possess valuable resourcefulness that businesses seek, but are rarely given the chance to showcase. He recalls bringing together investors and homeless individuals about 30 years ago, advocating for the latter as "duckers and divers" capable of maximizing opportunities.
Now a crossbench peer in the House of Lords, Bird, 80, draws on his own challenging past. Born in a Notting Hill slum, he was homeless by age five, arrested at 10, and imprisoned by 14. Despite a prior career in printing, The Big Issue elevated his public profile, though he rejects the label of "social entrepreneur," humorously stating, "It just means I don’t have any money."
The Big Issue operates on a micro-entrepreneurship model: vendors purchase copies for £2.50 and sell them for £5, keeping the profit. Since its launch, over 100,000 people have sold the magazine, collectively earning approximately £162 million. The publication has evolved into a broader social enterprise group, generating income through sales, advertising, and digital operations.
In 2025, more than 1.5 million copies were sold across the UK, with 3,316 vendors earning a collective £3.3 million. Bird sees this approach as offering dignity and a more effective route out of poverty than traditional handouts.
The Big Issue serves as a barometer for societal shifts. Initially, most vendors were rough sleepers, often army veterans. By 2011, the magazine expanded its vendor base to include the unemployed. Currently, it is experiencing an influx of younger individuals facing distress, coinciding with a rise in young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET).
Bird's ambitions extend beyond the magazine. He launched Big Issue Invest in 2005, a venture that raises capital from external investors to provide finance for charities and social purpose businesses. Last year, it invested £9.4 million into 50 organizations.
This initiative reflects Bird's frustration with the UK's approach to entrepreneurship and risk-taking, which he believes is overly cautious. He also criticizes governments for focusing on managing the consequences of poverty rather than addressing its root causes. "It's not one size fits all. Why is a child sleeping in a doorway at 14? That can’t be tackled simply by giving them a room later on," he stated, emphasizing the need to look beyond accommodation and towards enterprise as a solution.
While Bird still hopes for The Big Issue to become unnecessary, his broader aim is to replicate its founding principle of enterprise as a pathway out of poverty through ventures like Big Issue Invest.