It's not often Post Op gets to roll out the proverbial red carpet, so we were excited to welcome Lord Bird to our offices in London. Lord Bird, a crossbench peer since 2015, had expressed interest in learning more about how Post Op can help with healthcare and surgical innovation in the NHS.
Post Op’s UK based team was out in force and we were happy to chat, break bread and learn more about the Lord’s lifelong interests – from poverty reduction, health education and criminal rehabilitation. And while we had a special guest, it felt right that we asked him to officially inaugurate our new, larger office at Venture X, Chiswick.
Poverty Campaigner and Big Issue Founder
Lord Bird, or John Bird MBE as he was known before 2015, is a founder of The Big Issue – the monthly magazine sold by people facing financial hardship. He started it in 1991 with Gordon Roddick, the husband of The Body Shop founder, Anita. The magazine’s mission was to help people facing homelessness, long-term unemployment or financial difficulties – not with handouts, but a hand up – giving people the chance to use their skills to sell and earn flexibly.
More than 30 years later, Big Issue vendors are selling on most of the UK’s streets as well as in four continents with an expansion across Australia, Japan, Taiwan, South Africa and Korea. The mission remains the same – to tackle poverty through a socially conscious business, with in-depth journalism.
Post Op’s CEO and founder Dr Chindu Kabir: It's an honour to host Lord Bird – someone who has worked hard to challenge the status quo through education and giving people a chance. He completely understands Post Op’s mission to standardise the surgical ecosystem and we’re looking forward to working with him.
