A keen philanthropist, Josh has always had the welfare of others at the forefront of his mind. First embarking into the land of social enterprise back in 2012, Josh worked alongside Alice Thompson to co-found Social Bite. Established as a social enterprise, the sandwich and coffee shop chain operates to donate 100% of its profits to worthy causes rather than for personal profit. In a bid to help those suffering due to homelessness, Josh made it his mission to employ homeless people in his Social Bite shop. Josh is now proud to say that 25% of his employees come from backgrounds of homelessness, employing over 70 individuals and operating in five different venues across Scotland. A list celebrities have also been keen to back the chain, with stars such as George Clooney and Leonardo Di Caprio visiting to show their support.
Passionate to help the homeless integrate back into society, Josh has also built the Social Bite Village in Edinburgh. The Social Bite Village is a small gathering of houses, built to rehome 20 homeless individuals and provide incredible support for such individuals with troubled backgrounds. In addition to the village, Josh has also founded the project Housing First, working with landlords to pledge accommodation. Josh’s project was credibly backed by the Scottish Government, ultimately receiving an incredible £6.5 million in funding and now working towards homing over 800 people by the year 2021.
In 2019 Josh then launched the World’s Big Sleep Out. This project aimed to see thousands of people sleep out in places such as New York, London, Singapore, New Delhi and Amsterdam in a bid to raise money for both homeless and refugee relief across the globe. He also founded another social enterprise, co-founder of Brewgooder. This social enterprise produces craft beer, ultimately with the goal to donate all profits to ensuring clean drinking water globally with clean water projects.
Another of Josh’s greatest accomplishments is founding The Scottish Business Awards. Quickly growing to become one of the largest business events in the UK, Josh has enlisted the help of stars such as Sir Richard Branson and Bob Geldof to help advocate his social philanthropy. Since beginning his endeavours to help the homeless, Josh has raised an incredible £7 million for charity, a figure which is ever increasing. His efforts to help those less fortunate than himself has seen Josh collect many accolades. In 2017 he was appointed MBE during the 2017 New Years Honours and was also recognised as part of Debrett’s 500 Most Influential People in the UK. He was also awarded the 2019 Pride of Britain Special Recognition Award and the 2020 Robert Burns Humanitarian Award crediting his help to the homeless.
Josh is highly sought as a public speaker, where he brings awareness to the pressing issues of homelessness and how the world can help to change the unfortunate circumstances of such individuals. With erudite knowledge of social entrepreneurship, Josh radically challenges business norms, pioneering the sector of social enterprise. On a mission to eradicate homelessness, Josh passionately campaigns to help such individuals get their lives back on track.
