Our history
In the early 1960s, Reed pioneered specialist recruitment in the UK. Seven decades on, we have become the world’s largest family-run recruitment business, with offices spanning across the UK, Europe, USA, the Middle East and East Asia.
The history of Reed
1960
Humble beginnings
Reed was founded by Alec Reed (later Sir Alec Reed) on the 7th May 1960, with the first office located on Kingsley Road, Hounslow, in West London. In the early 1960’s we pioneered specialist recruitment services; a move that fundamentally changed the UK recruitment market.
1972
Educate to accumulate
Sir Alec Reed founded the Reed Business School in the Cotswolds to provide a learning centre for Reed co-members, as well as residential courses for accountancy students. The Reed Business School has been listed as one of the most beautiful places to study in the world.
1986
Building the foundation
Set up by our founder Sir Alec Reed, the Reed Foundation aims to give back to local, national, and international communities. Each year it supports a wide variety of charities across various sectors and has donated more than £25m over the past 10 years.
1995
Online revolution
Reed became the first branch-based recruitment firm in the UK to have a presence on the internet. Reed.co.uk is the UK’s number one digital recruitment service, being used by 85% of the UK’s top 100 recruitment firms.
1996
Reed Learning
In 1996, Reed Learning became one of the UK’s leading business training providers. It was the first provider to launch green learning courses, become an exclusive training partner to Google and winner of several national training awards. Now, Reed.co.uk is home to thousands of online learning courses.
1998
Welfare to work
Established in 1998, Reed in Partnership was one of the first employment support service providers in the UK, with a single office in Hackney. Today, Reed in Partnership offers services throughout the UK, fulfilling its mission: to positively transform people’s lives and their communities.
2007
The Big Give
The Big Give is a non-profit, match funding platform that allows charities to double donations from supporters. Since its launch in 2007, it has raised over £156 million for thousands of great causes through the power of match funding.
2008
Reed goes global
In 2008 the organic growth of Reed, meant taking our family values global. For the first time ever, we opened international Reed offices in Turkey, Malta, Czech Republic, Hungary and South Korea.
2020
60 years and counting
In May 2020 Reed turned 60 years old. With 60 years under our belt and many more to go, we continue to lead the way with the best recruitment solutions and comprehensive industry knowledge. Over the last seven decades, Reed has organically grown to become one of the world’s largest recruitment powerhouses, having built an incredibly strong team of over 3,400 co-members across a number of locations.
2021
Reed Franchise Partnerships
In 2021 we launched our latest venture. Reed Franchise Partnerships' purpose is to share knowledge and experience with partners further afield. With the help of our experienced team members, our new international partners are starting out on recruitment journeys which we hope are as long and fruitful as Reed’s.
Find a Reed office
Our national coverage allows us to offer a recruitment service tailored to your needs, with accurate local market intelligence on salaries, competitors and the best professionals who can help your business thrive.