In his autobiography, Reed writes that his earliest memory is listening with his family to Neville Chamberlain's 1939 speech declaring war on Germany, a speech that so alarmed his parents that they fled London in a neighbour's car the same day, thinking invasion imminent, only to return "...before teatime" after concluding that nowhere in the country would be safe.

A child of The Blitz, Reed has described his childhood as generally "secure", though he has also said that much of his early motivation came from feeling overshadowed by his older brother.

Along with a milk round, Reed's first business venture was started alongside his brother while both were still children: the pair made and sold toy soldiers forged from lead that had been salvaged from local bombed-out houses.

Reed left the army in 1954 to work as a trainee accountant for Gillette in Osterley, having passed his Chartered Secretary qualification the year before, at the third attempt.

Keen to be self-employed, Reed pursued a number of sideline businesses while still at Gillette, including making his own brand of aftershave that he brewed in his mother's kitchen and sold door-to-door.

In 1970, Reed founded Inter-Company Comparisons, now ICC PLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of a Swedish business group.

[10] Reed would later write that he started Medicare simply to smooth out the cash flow performance of his then-publicly quoted companies.

He would later blame the stress of running Medicare for his diagnosis of colon cancer; the business was sold as part of his recuperation, at his wife's insistence.

In an October 2024 interview, aged 90, Reed said that he was encouraging other firms to copy this model: “ If they give away 20% [of profits] they’ll never regret it.

Reed founded the site in response to receiving an unmanageable number of appeals from charities seeking donations from high-profile philanthropists.

In addition to projects uploaded by charities, the site also runs emergency appeals (such as for victims of the 2014 Philippines hurricane and the 2013 Syrian refugee crisis, and an annual Christmas Challenge), in which Reed’s funds (and those of external foundations) are joined with pledges from charities' own major donors, in order to double online donations made by the public.

Designed to fund innovative solutions supporting young people with poor mental health to secure and sustain employment, the inaugural prize was awarded to UK Youth in 2024.

[18] Ethiopiaid works with local community partners in Ethiopia to alleviate poverty, support the elderly, empower women and girls, help children with disabilities and increase access to health care and education.

Reed founded the charity with a £1m donation in 1989, having visited the Ethiopian capital in 1987 on a fact-finding tour organised and accompanied by Jembra Teferra, a relative of Haile Selassie and wife of a former mayor of the city.

The charity supports women suffering from abuse, neglect and illness; it also educates against female circumcision and child marriage.

Founded in HMP Holloway in 1993, Reed Restart was a not-for-profit charity dedicated the rehabilitation and assistance of women prisoners, helping them to become more employable on release.

The pilot scheme at HMP Holloway was extended to provincial gaols, including Eastwood Park Women’s Prison.

Its catchment area has a high percentage of Indian, Pakistani and Polish families; 52% of pupils do not speak English as a first language.

Their actions are beginning to have an impact on improving teaching and raising standards" Reed has spoken of the "tremendous freedom" he was given to shape the academy’s approach, noting that he decided the school’s aims and ethos, chose its headmaster and commissioned the design of its buildings, from Foster & Partners.

I was based in Bond Street and at about that time the Observer newspaper ran a series of articles about people who were having difficult lives.

The big companies were more bureaucratic and weren't able to do that so readily" In the 1970s, Reed bought Keveral Farm in Cornwall where addicts could spend time in recovery.

Reed has also personally supported a range of smaller UK charities, such as The Passage (homelessness) and The Branch Trust (deprived families).

[21] In 2022, he launched Reed Innovation Scholarships, providing financial support to undergraduate students at Royal Holloway, University of London.

[11] Bourne's Cinderella is notable for setting the classic story during World War II and transforming the prince of the traditional fairy tale into an injured RAF pilot.

Reed won a national prize for those over sixty years old for his self-portrait Nice Hat, in which he is portrayed wearing a trilby.

Reed became a member of the governing council of Royal Holloway, University of London, in 1979, subsequently becoming the chairman of the college's finance committee.

[30] After the formation of the Royal Holloway School of Management in 1990, Reed recruited high-profile guest speakers and donated to the library.

[30] Reed made his students turn up on time "...to introduce them to the basics of business life"; latecomers were fined £1, paid into a fund which purchased confectionery for the class.

Debrett's lists his interests as family, portrait painting, theatre, cinema, tennis, riding, ballet and bridge.

The latter left a significant scar on his forehead, which he refers to as his "Mail On Sunday headline", after being in dispute with the newspaper at the time of his diagnosis.