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鈥淚 was passionate about making a difference鈥� 鈥� why Social Bite founder Josh Littlejohn was determined to succeed

23 May 2018

Josh Littlejohn MBE may not be instantly recognisable, but you’ll know who his mates are.

George Clooney; Leonardo di Caprio; Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — they’ve all dropped by to lend their support to his Edinburgh-based business.

Josh is the co-founder of Social Bite, a social enterprise with small chain of cafés, created with the aim of ending homelessness in Scotland.

He grew up in comfort near Stirling – his father is a successful restaurant entrepreneur – but as he revealed on Stark Talk, teenage Josh was embarrassed by his wealthy background:-

Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn

Josh Littlejohn tells Edi Stark why he hid his wealthy background.

“I had this really weird complex about not being seen to be any more wealthy than anyone else. I can only assume that translated into [having] no desire to chase wealth.”

I could think of nothing worse than my dad dropping me off [at school] in a sports car
Josh Littlejohn

But the family’s entrepreneurial genes were very much present in Josh. He set up an events company, staging a fashion show and a ski and snowboard exhibition. He also created the Scottish Business Awards.

’I was never driven by the money”, he said. “But I loved having the idea in my head and then working really hard every day.”

It still wasn’t enough for Josh who from a young age had wanted to make a difference in the world.

Social enterprise

He explained, “I read a book by Muahammad Yunus where he described this idea of a social business, it didn’t have any shareholding, didn’t have any profit motive; it was a business format to tackle a social challenge.”

The book gave Josh a renewed purpose.

“It was something I could believe in … something I could devote myself to.”

Josh and the A-list celebrities

  • Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio is understood to have accepted an invitation to visit an Edinburgh homeless charity sandwich shop.

  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have visited Edinburgh Castle on their first official joint appearance in Scotland.

  • Crowds of fans in Edinburgh greeted George Clooney as he visited a sandwich shop that helps homeless people.

The houses that Josh built

As well as Social Bite, , which has built a community of houses for Edinburgh’s homeless.

However, Josh still isn’t content.

“It does get a bit addictive. You achieve one thing and then before you realise it your brain’s going, ‘we can do this next’.”

Stark Talk

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