- John Bird was born in London in 1946. He became homeless at age 5 and supplemented his income during his teens by working in a butchers shop and stealing. He spent many spells in prison where he learned to read and write. After leaving prison in the 1970's, he began his own small printing and publishing company.
- The big issue was founded in 1991 by Bird and co-founder of the Body Shop Gordon Roddick as a response to homelessness in London. Having spent much time under the care of various charities, Bird said that he felt that, whilst charities did a lot for homeless people, they didn't teach people to get life skills or provide them with an income. This, along with Roddick's own encounter with a homeless newspaper seller in New York, encouraged them to begin their social enterprise and charity, wherein they helped homeless people as well as giving them a job and steady income so that they were fully supported in their rehabilitation and the rebuilding of their lives.
- Bird has received an MBE for his charity and social enterprise work, and wanted to run for Mayor of London in 2008 but pulled out of the race in order to focus on his work in helping the homeless. He was also asked to run as a member of the Conservative party but declined due to conflicting views, however if he did run he would have replaced Boris Johnson. He is currently a member of the House of Lords
- Roddick co-founded the Body Shop with his wife Anita, a company which is charitable in its own rights. On a trip to New York, Roddick met a homeless man selling the worlds first 'homeless newspaper', Street News. The vendor told Roddick that he 'wasn't in it so much for the money' but rather as a way of avoiding returning to his 'rough' neighbourhood which the vendor felt would have inevitably sent him to a life of crime and prison. This motivated Roddick to bring the idea to the UK and co-found the Big Issue with Bird. Roddick felt that with his business skills and Bird's social awareness and past, the magazine would thrive. Roddick said they envisioned the vendors as 'selling, not begging' in order to give them a sense of worth and a work ethic.
- The Body Shop's main ethos was to work with 'fair trade' workers in foreign countries to sell naturally sourced products, in order to be environmentally friendly and to help those in need. This clearly aligns with The Big Issue's ethos as it shows how Gordon and Anita Roddick were passionate about helping those in need; they didn't see their wealth as a sense of entitlement and wanted to use their money for good. The Body Shop also campaign against animal testing and have never tested their products on animals; in November 2018, for instance, they and their 'influencers' campaigned outside the American UN building to try to make them pass a bill on making animal testing illegal. Again, this aligns with The Big Issue's views due to the fact that it shows how they are ethical and strive for a sense of equality, fairness and 'morally correct-ness' and use their company as a platform for this.
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