Alec Reed

Sir Alec Reed CBE is founder of Reed Executive Recruitment Agency plc and of the Reed Foundation.

Reed is a serial, entrepreneurial philanthropist, his commitment guaranteeing the foundation of six charities. Reed worked as an accountant before founding the agency in 1960. From the onset, Reed ensured that an ethos of involvement in charitable and social initiatives were integral to the company’s mission and aims.

Whilst volunteering at a drug addiction centre in the early 1970s, Reed was inspired to set up his first charity, AREA (Addict Rehabilitation Employment Agency). In 1985, he then established his own charitable foundation following the sale of a business interest. The Reed Foundation has since provided the seed funding for a number of charities including Academy of Enterprise, Womankind Worldwide, Women at Risk and Ethiopiaid. The Foundation continues to own 18 per cent of all the shares in the Reed group of companies.

In 2007, using his profile to rally lucrative supporters, he launched ‘The Big Give’. The project was designed to encourage potential wealthy philanthropists looking to make donations between £100,000 and £10m. The site is now home to £1.3bn worth of projects in need of funding.

In Professional Fundraising’s poll 2009, Reed was voted by readers to be the 33rd most influential person in fundraising.

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