Motivational speaker Richard Reed has had the entrepreneurial spirit from a very early age, setting up businesses from the early age of just eight years old, with friends and neighbours as his customers. He has gone on from then to become co-founder of the Innocent Smoothie Company, one of the most successful British companies in recent years.
Richard and a friend sold their first smoothies at a music festival and asked customers: ‘Should we give up our jobs to make these smoothies?’ The overwhelming opinion was that they should… so they did and the Innocent company was born. Known for its off-beat but user-friendly way of communicating with customers – especially through quirky packaging – the Innocent company describes its raison d’être as being ‘to make it easy for people to do themselves some good while making it taste nice too’.
Formed in 1999, the Innocent company has gone from employing three members of staff to 350, with a turnover of more than £200m a year and its products sold in 15 countries. The brand grew to become the biggest in Europe and in 2013 it was sold to Coca-Cola. According to Richard, products made by Innocent, including coconut water, lightly sparkling fruit juices, children’s drinks and fruit tubes, are intended to “help people live well and die old”.
Motivational speaker Richard Reed – once an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year – not only inspires audiences with his incredible success story but also with how his business gives 10 per cent of its profits , through the Innocent Foundation, to international charities, to help people escape hunger and poverty and build a better life for themselves. Richard is also the published author of the book If I Could Tell You Just One Thing...Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice donating his royalties to five mentoring and social inclusion charities. Innocent has also set up The Big Knit, working with Age UK, where people knit scarves and other items to keep the elderly warm. The company’s stated aim is 'to leave the planet a little bit better than how we found it'. Reed was awarded a CBE in 2016 for services to the food industry and to charity.
Richard is a passionate and engaging speaker who shares tales of his rise to the top to entertain and inspire audiences at conferences the world over.
