Richard Reed

Richard Reed was born in 1973 in Kirkheaton, West Yorkshire, and grew up in Mirfield.[7] He attended Batley Grammar School and went on to study geography at St John's College, Cambridge (1991–94),[8] after which he worked as an account manager in an advertising agency for four years.[1] In 1998, with fellow Cambridge graduates Adam Balon and Jon Wright, he set up a smoothie and drinks company called Innocent Drinks, initially operating from a market stall. Reed said in an interview with The Financial Times: "After we left our jobs, we had no cash – just one month's salary each that we tried to eke out for two months. We each ran up debts of about £15,000 from overdrafts and credit cards.... It took us four years before we were back to earning £40,000 – the same salary that we had left."[1] Their brand over the years grew to become the biggest in Europe and in 2013 was sold to Coca-Cola.[7]

Reed is involved with various charities, and is the founder of Art Everywhere[9] and co-founder of the Innocent Foundation and in 2012 of JamJar Investments.[4] He also presented the BBC Three television series Be Your Own Boss.[10][11]

He is the author of If I Could Tell You Just One Thing...Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice (Canongate Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1782119227),[12][5] donating the author's profits from the book to five mentoring and social inclusion charities.[13]

At the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours, Reed was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the food industry and to charity.[7][14]

Reed resides in West London.[15]