Virgin Group Ltd. is a British
multinational venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
conglomerate
Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to:
* Conglomerate (company)
* Conglomerate (geology)
* Conglomerate (mathematics)
In popular culture:
* The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes
** Co ...
founded by
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
and
Nik Powell
Nik Powell (4 November 1950 – 7 November 2019) was a British businessman and one of the co-founders of Virgin Records with Richard Branson. After operating a mail-order company, a small record shop, and a recording studio, the partners estab ...
in February 1970.
Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the
Companies House, who class it as a
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
; however Virgin's business and trading activities date back to the 1970s. The net worth of Virgin Group was estimated at £5–5.5 billion as of November 2014.
History
The name "Virgin" arose in 1970 when
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
and
Nik Powell
Nik Powell (4 November 1950 – 7 November 2019) was a British businessman and one of the co-founders of Virgin Records with Richard Branson. After operating a mail-order company, a small record shop, and a recording studio, the partners estab ...
formed a
record shop
A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record sho ...
, first as mail order and in 1971 with a physical store. They considered themselves
virgins
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
in business.
Branson has described the "V" in the logo as an expressive
tick
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...
, representing the Virgin seal of approval.
The original logo from 1973 was a completely different design intended to be used for the record company that was founded by
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
and
Nik Powell
Nik Powell (4 November 1950 – 7 November 2019) was a British businessman and one of the co-founders of Virgin Records with Richard Branson. After operating a mail-order company, a small record shop, and a recording studio, the partners estab ...
. The logo was designed by British science-fiction artist and designer
Roger Dean. According to Richard Branson in interviews and on the Virgin website, the more recent signature logo, introduced in 1978, was based on one that a designer scribbled on a napkin after a design meeting.
Corporate affairs
Virgin Group has its headquarters at The Battleship Building in the
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
district of the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...
. Previously it was in The School House,
Brook Green, in the
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
The Virgin Group of companies have a complex structure that contains elements of a generic
conglomerate
Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to:
* Conglomerate (company)
* Conglomerate (geology)
* Conglomerate (mathematics)
In popular culture:
* The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes
** Co ...
and a
keiretsu
A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. The ''ke ...
, and sometimes it simply licences its brand. Examples of licensing are
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
and
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...
, which are owned by
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
and
Liberty Global
Liberty Global plc is a British-Dutch-American multinational telecommunications company with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver. Its respective legal names are Liberty Global Plc, Liberty Global B.V. and Liberty Global, Inc., with ...
respectively.
In mid-May 2013, the Virgin Group expressed its intention to seek out opportunities in Australia's
healthcare industry
The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, a ...
to consolidate on the Group's Australian fitness centres. The Group also runs over 100
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
(NHS) services in the United Kingdom and the healthcare division of medical services group Assura after entering the British healthcare industry in 2011.
Virgin Group announced the establishment of
Virgin Voyages
Virgin Voyages is a cruise line headquartered in Plantation, Florida and a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Bain Capital.
As of April 2022, Virgin Voyages has two ships in the fleet, with two more on order, all with an expected capac ...
on 4 December 2014 with financial backing from
Bain Capital. The cruise line would be led by CEO
Tom McAlpin
Thomas Michael McAlpin (born 1959 in Miami, Florida) is the president and CEO of Virgin Voyages. He previously served as president and CEO of ''MS The World, The World'', a privately owned residential ship. McAlpin also served as president of Disn ...
, would have two new large ships built and be based in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area.
Virgin StartUp
Virgin StartUp is the Virgin Group's non-profit company, helping entrepreneurs across the UK to start, fund and scale their business. In 2013, Sir Richard visited Boxpark in Shoreditch, London, to launch the new organisation, revealing that he wanted to support anyone that had the same dreams and ambitions that he did as a young boy: “It was £300 from my mum that sparked the Virgin adventure 40 years ago. Today, young people need that same help and I believe Virgin StartUp will provide it – with access to early capital, strong mentorship, advice and promotion.”
The organisation became a delivery partner for the UK Government's Start Up Loans Company, providing loan finance of between £500 and £25,000, advice, and mentoring to thousands of start-ups across the country. In 2016, it was awarded European Regional Development Funding and subsequently launched Ready, Steady, Grow with Virgin StartUp, a programme of support aimed at start-ups that were ready to grow. A year later, it launched the UK's first equity-based crowdfunding accelerator programme, Crowdboost.
By 2018, the organisation had supported over 11,000 UK-based entrepreneurs, with over £35m in pre-seed funding.
Foodpreneur
In 2014, Branson and Virgin StartUp launched the "Foodpreneur" food and drink focused start-up competition. Winners received mentorship from Branson, legal support, and brand counseling. The 2014 winners included Proper Beans, Killer Tomato, Sweetpea Pantry, and Sweet Virtues.
In 2015, winners were given the opportunity to pitch
Target Corporation
Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...
buyers in the US. The 2015 winners included Pip & Nut, Double Dutch Drinks, Harry Bromptons, Cauli Rice, and Mallow and Marsh.
Only one start-up was announced winner of the 2017 Foodpreneur prize,
The Snaffling Pig Co
The Snaffling Pig Co is the trading name of Snaffling Pig Limited, a British snack food manufacturer. Snaffling Pig is known for its own brand of pork snack products.
The company appeared on the 14th season of BBC Two's Dragons’ Den in 2016 ...
., who won a six-week rental space at Intu Lakeside, the retail center with the highest foot traffic in the U.K.
Senior leadership
* ''Chairman:'' Peter Norris (since 2009)
* ''Chief Executive'': Josh Bayliss (since 2014)
List of former chairmen
#
Sir Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
(1970–2009)
List of former chief executives
# Sir Richard Branson (1970–2005)
# Stephen Murphy (2005–2011)
#
David Baxby
David Baxby is the former CEO of Global Blue and former Co-CEO of the Virgin Group.Virgin.coFarewell from Stephen and hello to Josh and David, retrieved 2011-12-09. He was born on 12 September 1973 in Sydney, Australia. Baxby is currently based ...
and Josh Bayliss (2011–2014)
Subsidiaries and investments
Formerly owned ventures
*
Absolute Radio
Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW.
History
1993–1997: Virg ...
: formerly Virgin Radio UK, rebranded in 2008
*
Air Nigeria
Air Nigeria (originally Virgin Nigeria Airways, and then Nigerian Eagle Airlines) was the national flag carrier of Nigeria, which operated scheduled regional and domestic passenger services. The airline's base was Murtala Mohammed International ...
: Nigerian national airline launched as Virgin Nigeria, shares sold in 2010
*
Connect Airways
Connect Airways was a consortium formed in December 2018 to acquire the British regional airline Flybe, which had put itself up for sale in November 2018 after issuing a profit warning the previous month, The consortium comprised Virgin Atlantic ...
(
Flybe
Flybe (pronounced ), styled as flybe, is a British airline based at Birmingham Airport, England.
History
The airline traces its history back to Jersey European Airways, which was set up in 1979 following the merger of Intra Airways and Expres ...
): 30% stake held through Virgin Atlantic. Entered administration in March 2020.
* Virgin Airship and Balloon Company: Operating hot air balloons and airships for advertisers
*
Liquid Comics
Liquid Comics is an Indian comic book Publishers company, founded in 2006 as Virgin Comics LLC, which produced stories (many of which are Indian-culture related) for an international audience. The company was founded by Sir Richard Branson and his ...
: comic book producer formerly known as Virgin Comics—sold to management in 2008
*
Vie at Home
Vie at Home (trademarked ''VIE at home''), formerly ''The Virgin Cosmetics Company'' and ''Virgin Vie At Home'', was a retailer and distributor of cosmetics. The company was formed as The Virgin Cosmetics Company by Mark and Liz Warom with the bac ...
: cosmetics retailer formerly known as Virgin Vie, sold to management in 2009
*
Virgin America
Virgin America Inc. was a low-cost U.S. airline that operated from 2007 until 2018, when it was acquired by Alaska Airlines. The airline primarily focused on operating low-fare service between cities on the West Coast and other major metropoli ...
: North American airline, sold to
Alaska Air Group on 14 Dec 2016
* Virgin Brides: retailer specialising in bridal wear
*
Virgin Care
Virgin Care was a British private provider of community health and social services, commissioned by the National Health Service and local authorities in England. From 2010 the company was known as Virgin Care and was part of Virgin Group. In Dec ...
sold to Twenty20 Capital and rebranded as HCRG Care Group on 1 December 2021
*
Virgin Cars: online car retailer, ceased trading in 2005
* Virgin Charter:
online marketplace
An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a way ...
of private aircraft seat bookings
*
Virgin Cinemas
Virgin Cinemas was founded in 1995 when Richard Branson's Virgin Group acquired MGM Cinemas, the largest movie theatre operator in the United Kingdom. Virgin Group bought the cinemas for £195m, and subsequently sold 90 of the chain's smallest c ...
: sold to
UGC in 1999
* Virgin Digital Help: technical support
*
Virgin Drinks
Virgin Drinks was a company that marketed Virgin Cola and Virgin Vodka. It was a subsidiary of the Virgin Group owned by Richard Branson.
The company was started in 1994 in conjunction with Cott to oversee and manage the product of Virgin Cola, ...
: drink manufacturer
**
Virgin Cola
Virgin Cola was a carbonated cola soft drink, launched in 1994. History
Virgin Cola was set up during the early 1990s in conjunction with Cott, an American-Canadian company that specialises in bottling own-label drinks. Cott was looking for ...
: carbonated cola soft drink
**
Virgin Vodka
Virgin Vodka was an alcoholic beverage produced by Virgin Drinks, a no longer extant subsidiary of the Virgin Group owned by Richard Branson. It was launched in 1994 and was withdrawn from the market some years later, as Virgin Drinks disbanded ...
: alcoholic beverage
**
v-Mix
Virgin Drinks was a company that marketed Virgin Cola and Virgin Vodka. It was a subsidiary of the Virgin Group owned by Richard Branson.
The company was started in 1994 in conjunction with Cott to oversee and manage the product of Virgin C ...
: spirit mixers
* Virgin Electronics: electronics retailer
* Virgin Energy: joint venture energy provider
*
Virgin Express: airline based in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, merged with
SN Brussels Airlines
SN Brussels Airlines (SNBA) was the national airline of Belgium, which mainly operated from Brussels Airport. SNBA was the trading name of the Belgian airline Delta Air Transport. SNBA was a full-service airline, connecting Brussels with the r ...
in 2006 to form
Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines is the flag carrier and largest airline of Belgium, based and headquartered at Brussels Airport. It operates to over 100 destinations in Europe, North America and Africa and also offers charter services, maintenance and crew ...
*
V Festival: British music festival sponsored by the Virgin Group
*
V Festival (Australia): an Australian version of the V Festival
*
Virgin Festival
The Virgin Fest, known as the Virgin Mobile FreeFest in the United States, was a rock festival held in the United States and Canada, a spin-off from the V Festival held in the UK. In North America the Virgin name, and more recently the Virgin Mo ...
: a North American version of the V Festival
*
Virgin Films
Virgin Films was a film production company of the early 1980s best known for making ''Nineteen Eighty Four'' (1984). It was part of the Virgin Group and was headed by Al Clark.Alexander Walker, ''Icons in the Fire: The Rise and Fall of Practica ...
: film production company
*
Virgin Games
Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwoo ...
: sold to
Gamesys
The Gamesys Group is an online software development and gaming business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by the U.S. casino operator, Bally's Corporation, in October 2021.
History
The company was founded in by An ...
in 2013
*
Virgin Green Fund
Virgin Green Fund was established in 2007 to invest in companies in the renewable energy and resource efficiency sectors in the US and Europe. It closed in 2014.
Investment history
The fund's first fundraising round raised $199m from Virgin a ...
: shut down in 2014
*
Virgin Health Bank: sold to
Qatar Foundation
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development ( ar, مؤسسة قطر) is a state-led non-profit organization in Qatar, founded in 1995 by then-emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser. Qatar Founda ...
*
Virgin Interactive: Game Developer and publisher, bought by various companies, and renamed
Avalon Interactive
Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwo ...
in 2003
* Virgin Limousines: a former
limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment.
A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...
service that operated mostly in the US and Canada. It operated for 14 years, until November 2010.
*
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...
(including
Virgin Mobile UK
Virgin Mobile is a mobile phone service provider operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Virgin Media which is part of Virgin Media O2. The company was launched by Virgin Group in 1999 as the world's first mobile virtual network operato ...
): UK Cable TV, broadband internet and Fixed and Mobile telephony provider—bought by
Liberty Global
Liberty Global plc is a British-Dutch-American multinational telecommunications company with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver. Its respective legal names are Liberty Global Plc, Liberty Global B.V. and Liberty Global, Inc., with ...
*
Virgin Mobile Australia: mobile phone service provider in Australia—shares sold to
Optus in 2006
*
Virgin Mobile France
Virgin Mobile France was a cellular telephone operator in France. It launched in 2006 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Carphone Warehouse. The company operated as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), whereby it did not own or opera ...
: mobile phone service provider in France—shares sold to
Numericable-SFR
SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French telecommunications company.
As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-spee ...
in 2014
*
Virgin Mobile India
Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries o ...
: mobile phone service provider in India—shares sold to
Tata Teleservices in 2015
*
Virgin Mobile USA: mobile phone service provider in the USA—shares sold to
Sprint Corporation
Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it Merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 ...
in 2009, ceased operations in 2020.
*
Virgin Money Australia
Virgin Money Australia is an Australian financial services company owned by Bank of Queensland, and has 150,000 customers.
History Foundation
In 2003, Virgin Money was launched in Australia with the launch of Virgin Money credit cards. Virgin ...
: sold to
Bank of Queensland
The Bank of Queensland (branded BOQ) is an Australian retail bank with headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland. The bank is one of the oldest financial institutions in Queensland, having begun as a building society. It now has 163 branches througho ...
*
Virgin Money US: sold in 2010
*
Virgin Nigeria
Air Nigeria (originally Virgin Nigeria Airways, and then Nigerian Eagle Airlines) was the national flag carrier of Nigeria, which operated scheduled regional and domestic passenger services. The airline's base was Murtala Mohammed International ...
: national
flag carrier of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. ceased operations in 2012
*
Virgin One account: shareholding sold to co-owner (RBS) in 2003
*
Virgin Sun Airlines: scheduled and charter airline, closed in 2001
*
Virgin Play
Virgin PLAY S.A. (Formerly Virgin Interactive España S.A.) was a Spanish video game distributor, and later a video game publisher.
History
In 1995, Virgin Interactive Entertainment opened up a Spanish subsidiary known as Virgin Interactive Espa ...
: Spanish game distributor and publisher, filed for liquidation and closed in 2009
*
Virgin Plus: (formerly Virgin Mobile Canada) mobile phone service provider in Canada—shares sold to joint venture partner
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
in 2009
* Virgin Snow, 1986 joint venture with Bladon Lines Ski Vacations
*
Virgin Trains ExpressCoach: former operator of inter-city bus & coach services (51%)
*
Virgin CrossCountry
Virgin CrossCountry was a train operating company in the United Kingdom operating the InterCity CrossCountry passenger franchise from January 1997 until November 2007. Virgin CrossCountry operated some of the longest direct rail services in th ...
: former operator of the Cross Country
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
franchise in the United Kingdom, superseded by
Arriva CrossCountry
CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise.
The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) i ...
in 2007 (51%)
*
Virgin EMI Records
Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records.
History
Virgin ...
: soundtrack label—owned by
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
**
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
: American music soundtrack label
*
Virgin Racing
Virgin Racing (subsequently Marussia Virgin Racing) was a Formula One racing team which was under management of Manor Motorsport, Wirth Research and Richard Branson's Virgin Group and competed in with a British licence and in with a Russian ...
:
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
motor racing team
* Virginware: clothing retailer
*
Virgin Wines: online wine market, sold to Direct Wines in 2005
*
Virgin Trains West Coast: train operating company on the
West Coast Main Line. Renewed franchise bid unsuccessful, superseded by
Avanti West Coast in December 2019 (51%)
*
Virgin Trains East Coast: train operating company, supersed by
London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four ...
in June 2018 (10%)
*
Virgin Trains USA: train operating company between Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida. Branding deal launched in late 2018, ended in 2020.
*Virgin Video (aka Virgin Vision): home video distributor, sold to
Management Company Entertainment Group
Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
in 1989.
Controversies
The parent company, Virgin Group Holdings Ltd, is registered in the
British Virgin Islands
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = Territorial song
, song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands"
, image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg
, map_caption =
, mapsize = 290px
, image_map2 = Brit ...
. Richard Branson and his family hold a £2.7 billion stake in this offshore, tax-free,
tax haven company.
The group's health business received significant media coverage over its legal battle with NHS groups. It sued
clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in Surrey after it lost out on an £82 million contract to provide children's health services across the country. The NHS bodies settled out of court with a £328,000 payout to Virgin Care, resulting in some controversy. More than 100,000 people backed a petition calling on the company to stop "dragging the NHS through the courts".
In 2019, it was discovered that cell phones being sold by Virgin subsidiary company
Assurance Wireless
Assurance Wireless is a telephone service subsidized by the federal Lifeline Assistance program, a government benefit program supported by the federal Universal Service Fund. The service provides to low-income eligible people a free phone, fr ...
came with unremovable Chinese malware preinstalled.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgin Group
Airline holding companies
British brands
British companies established in 1970
Companies based in London
Conglomerate companies of the United Kingdom
Holding companies established in 1970
Holding companies of the United Kingdom