Reed is the chair of the board of trustees at Big Give and has helped to build it into a successful match funding platform, raising more than £233m for over 14,000 different charities in the last 15 years.

This year Big Give’s Christmas Challenge raised nearly £29m in one week.

James Reed, a driving force behind the charity Big Give and chairman of major recruitment brand The Reed Group, has been awarded the CBE, the highest-ranking Order of the British Empire award, for services to business and charity in the 2023 New Year Honours List.

At Reed, the family-owned recruitment company, revenue has increased from £150m to £1.2bn under James Reed’s leadership, a press statement said. He has overseen the development of reed.co.uk, the introduction of employment support service provider Reed in Partnership and the international expansion of the company.

James Reed described the recognition as “a great surprise and a great honour”. He went on to say: “For me, this award feels like an acknowledgement of the hard work of everyone at both Reed and Big Give. I just want to say thank you.”

Reed is a regular media commentator on work and labour market issues, a best-selling author of five books and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The Reed Group has supported the Big Give since its launch, including covering running costs for many years and the provision of pro bono office space and services.

James Reed is also a trustee of the Reed Foundation, a charity which owns 18% of the Reed Group and supports good causes around the world. Over the past 10 years, the foundation has donated over £10m to a wide variety of charities from a multitude of sectors, including environment and social mobility organisations in the UK. Its funding is channelled via Big Give, for which it acts as a match funding champion.

Reed lives in London and Wiltshire, and is married to artist, beekeeper and whisky entrepreneur Nicola Arkell Reed, with whom he has six children.