Iconic street magazine falls on hard times

The Big Issue is struggling to survive as the cost-of-living crisis eats into vendors’ sales. 

Already on a knife – edge from the Covid lockdowns when restrictions meant the homeless or long – term unemployed couldn’t sell the magazine on the street the Big Issue is having to look for new funding models for the social business to survive. 

With inflation and energy costs forcing households to tighten their belts non – essential purchases are the first to go. 

Loughborough street vendor of the 30 – year – old magazine Ricky said he worked for five hours yesterday in Nottingham and only sold two copies. 

“I don’t know why it’s become so hard but I think people have less money so are having to cut back somewhere,” said Ricky in Loughborough today. 

Editor in Chief of The Big Issue John Bird, who sits as a cross – bencher in the House of Lords said the company used every means possible during Covid to support its sellers and look for new avenues of revenue.  

Encouraging people to take out a subscription is one new approach and it’s taken with half the cover price still going to the seller. 

Famous for his approach of ‘a hand up not a hand out’ the social entrepreneur Baron Bird said during the Covid crisis the Big Issue Group provided sellers with direct financial support, supermarket vouchers and PPE. 

Vendors were given card machines so they could go cashless and a subsidy scheme was launched so sellers could earn more from each copy sold. 

Bird said the current situation with the war in Ukraine, Covid and Brexit reminds him of the series of events of the 1970s except it’s all come together to cause one ‘shit storm’. 

He called for the government to take action to stop households being evicted, warning of a surge in homelessness.  

The charity Crisis predicts homeless households could rise to 300,000 a night.