He is best known as the co-founder of The Big Issue, a magazine edited by professional journalists and sold by street vendors who are largely homeless or vulnerably housed.

[3] Bird attended Chelsea School of Art, but was homeless again by 1967, sleeping rough in Edinburgh while being sought by the police for petty offences.

[5] In the early 1970s, he started to build upon his prison education and set up a small-scale printing and publishing business in London.

[6] In September 1991, Bird launched The Big Issue with Gordon Roddick,[7] co-founder of The Body Shop.

The Big Issue magazine started as a London venture but expanded with specific editions and services to other British cities, and then to other countries.

In 2001, with The Big Issue Group chairman Nigel Kershaw OBE Archived 17 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Bird founded Big Issue Invest,[9] a provider of finance for businesses, charities and NGOs with the aim of creating positive social change.

[14] In November 2016, Bird suggested that he was initially asked to stand as the Conservative Party candidate in 2007 – prior to the selection of the eventual winner and later Prime Minister Boris Johnson – but refused the offer.

"[20]Lord Bird's work is non-partisan and focuses on dismantling the root causes of poverty in the UK,[21] with an emphasis on the well-being of future generations, early intervention and prevention.

He also leads debates on poverty, literacy and social business, and is a member of the Lord Speaker's Advisory Panel on Works of Art.

[26] He accepted the UN-HABITAT Scroll of Honour in 2004 from Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya (2002–13), on behalf of The Big Issue.