Richard John Reed, (born 13 February 1973) is a British businessman, entrepreneur and public speaker. He is the co-founder of

Innocent Drinks Innocent Drinks is a company that produces smoothies and juice sold in supermarkets, coffee shops and various other outlets. The company sells more than two million smoothies per week. Innocent is over 90% owned by The Coca-Cola Company. Histor ...

(founded in 1999 ), an international company producing fresh fruit

smoothie A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt, ice cream or cottage cheese. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dai ...

s and vegetable pots sold in various outlets around the world, and of

Jamjar Investments JamJar Investments is a venture capital investment fund, headquartered in London, founded in 2012 by Richard Reed, Jon Wright, Adam Balon, and Katie Marraché (née Leviten). Reed, Wright, and Balon had previously founded FMCG smoothie brand ...

(founded 2012).Ruthven, Hunter
"Innocent Drinks founders invest in child car seat though Jam Jar fund"
''Real Business'', 31 May 2015. He pioneered "wackaging" – quirky messages on packaging – of products such as smoothies.

Biography

Richard Reed was born in 1973 in

Kirkheaton Kirkheaton () is a village and former civil parish north-east of Huddersfield, now in the parish of Kirkburton, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, Historically, it is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is in the Dalton ward of ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, and grew up in

Mirfield Mirfield () is a town and civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. At the 2011 census it had a population of 19,563. Mirfield ...

. He attended Batley Grammar School and went on to study

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

at St John's College, Cambridge (1991–94), after which he worked as an account manager in an advertising agency for four years."My First Million: Richard Reed of Innocent Drinks"
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', 1 July 2011. In 1998, with fellow Cambridge graduates Adam Balon and Jon Wright, he set up a smoothie and drinks company called

, initially operating from a market stall. Reed said in an interview with ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'': "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." Their brand over the years grew to become the biggest in Europe and in 2013 was sold to

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

. Reed is involved with various charities, and is the founder of Art Everywhere and co-founder of the Innocent Foundation and in 2012 of JamJar Investments. He also presented the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

television series ''Be Your Own Boss''. He is the author of ''If I Could Tell You Just One Thing...Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice'' (

Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner '' Life of Pi''. Canongate wa ...

, 2016, ), donating the author's profits from the book to five mentoring and social inclusion charities. At the

2016 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

, Reed was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) for services to the food industry and to charity. Reed resides in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Richard 1973 births Living people Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 21st-century English businesspeople People from Kirkheaton English company founders Commanders of the Order of the British Empire