Our social impact
As a family-run group of companies, established in 1960, the Reed Group has a strong emphasis on corporate responsibility and a track record of social impact, philanthropy and sustainability. Our commitment to social impact is driven by our company purpose: ‘Improving lives through work’, and we have three pillars of social impact.
We believe in meaningful employment for everyone...
Reed in Partnership
One of the companies in the Reed Group, Reed in Partnership provides services that change people’s lives for the better. Since 1998, it has helped over 150,000 unemployed people back into work, but it doesn’t just stop there. The company plans to continue to diversify its expertise to support others, such as young people who would like to change to a healthier lifestyle and those who need support after recently arriving in the UK.
Apprenticeship and internship programme
In December 2017, Reed launched its award-winning apprenticeship and internship programme, with the primary aim of helping people take their first steps into a recruitment and technology career. We have had 111 apprentices graduate from our programme and seek to go further by launching apprenticeships in other areas of the business, such as management and leadership.
Reed’s inclusion strategy
We have a commitment to inclusion and belonging to ensure that all of our co-members have the chance to fulfil their potential, whatever their background. In 2019, we introduced an inclusion strategy to support people who hold protected characteristics, and we continue to work to improve performance across four inclusion metrics: women in leadership, disability, ethnic minority inclusion and LGBTQ+.
Keep Britain Working
In 2020, we launched the Keep Britain Working campaign as part of the economic fightback against Covid-19, to preserve jobs and protect livelihoods. As part of this effort, we continue to identify the ways we can support those most affected by the crisis, support SMEs and help workers reskill to adapt to the changing job market.
We believe in giving back to the communities we work in...
The Reed Foundation
The Reed Foundation is a registered UK charity and is the biggest shareholder (18%) in the Reed Group, meaning that all of our co-members work one day a week for charity. Since it was founded by Sir Alec Reed in 1972, the foundation has given £9.5m away to a variety of charitable causes.
The Big Give
Sir Alec Reed founded and financed The Big Give in 2007, the UK’s biggest match funding platform. The vision behind it is to provide a search engine for charities and secure a way for individuals to give back easily online. Since 2008, The Big Give has raised £156m for good causes and we hope to continue the good work to reach our target of £1bn.
Alec Reed Academy
The opportunity to find fulfilling work starts with education. In 2005, Sir Alec Reed invested in the development of state-of-the-art facilities for a new academy in Ealing, West London. Following this initial investment, Sir Alec continued to support the school through the Reed Foundation with multiple initiatives, and in 2012 the school was renamed the Alec Reed Academy to recognise his contribution to improving its students’ lives and education. Reed continues to work alongside the school to provide the best opportunities to its students.
Reed fundraising
We encourage and foster a culture of charitable giving with our co-members across all of our Reed offices up and down the country. Every month we support fundraising events, allow our co-members to take part in payroll giving and encourage them to raise money for local charities and help those in their local community.
We believe in looking after our planet...
CarbonNeutral®
Our environmental policy commits Reed to reduce our carbon emissions and maintain our CarbonNeutral® status, reducing waste and eliminating single-use plastics. This initiative is there to encourage the Reed Group to make year-on-year reductions and contribute to protecting our environment.
Environment champions
In 2020, Reed launched the environmental champions internal network. This consists of co-member advocates throughout the Reed Group supporting us in leading the way in sustainability and delivering on our environmental commitments, which we aim to roll out across all Reed offices.