Timeline of Richard Branson's business ventures

Last updated

This is a list of Richard Branson's business ventures from the 1960s to today.

Contents

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Branson</span> British business magnate (born 1950)

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British business magnate, commercial astronaut and former convict. In the 1970s he co-founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.

Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and was originally planned by its co-founders Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary to fly between London and the Falkland Islands. Soon after changing the name to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fields sold his shares in the company after disagreements with Richard Branson over the management of the company. The maiden flight from London–Gatwick to Newark took place on 22 June 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Records</span> British record label

Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was 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 worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Phil Collins, OMD, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, the Sex Pistols, and Mike Oldfield among others, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and Island Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Trains</span> British train operating company (1997–2019)

Virgin Trains (VT)(legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 March 1997 to 7 December 2019. The franchise covered long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and southern Scotland, consequently connecting six of the UK's largest cities: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which have a combined metropolitan population of over 18 million. Virgin Trains had around 3,400 employees in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Group</span> British multinational conglomerate

Virgin Group Limited is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Megastores</span> British entertainment retail chain

Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV plc</span> British-based media company

ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolute Radio</span> British Independent National Radio station

Absolute Radio is a British independent 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 was on 1215 kHz MW until the closure of medium wave transmissions on 20 January 2023.

FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, which is based in Aberdeen in the north-east of Scotland. The company operates transport services in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V2 Records</span> British record label

V2 Records is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007, sold to PIAS in 2013 and partially acquired by Universal in 2022. In Benelux, V2 would operate separately from PIAS from 2013 to 2022, since the label was bought from Universal in 2007, henceforth Universal Music Group partially owns V2.

Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Australia Holdings</span> Holding company for Virgin in Australia

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited is the holding company that owns and operates Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. It previously operated Pacific Blue Airlines, Tigerair Australia and joint-venture airline Polynesian Blue which were absorbed into Virgin Australia in December 2011. Its head office is located in South Bank, Brisbane. After being placed in administration in April 2020, it was purchased by Bain Capital in August 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Mobile (UK)</span> Former mobile phone service provider

Virgin Mobile Telecoms was a mobile phone service provider operated in the United Kingdom. It was 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 operator (MVNO). As a virtual operator, Virgin Mobile does not maintain its own network but connects customers through the O2 network. Virgin Mobile offers contract mobile packages, as well as mobile broadband services. It sells its services directly, as well as through price comparison sites.

Head Entertainment was an entertainment retail chain in the United Kingdom. The company was formed on 18 February 2009 when Simon Douglas, former managing director of Zavvi and business partner Les Whitfield, purchased five stores from Zavvi Entertainment Group which was placed in administration on 24 December 2008. All stores closed in early 2010 after less than a year of trading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Rail Group</span> British rail franchise operator

Virgin Rail Group was formed by the Virgin Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s.

Virgin Megastores was a retail chain that operated in the United Kingdom from 1971 to 2007. The company was established by Richard Branson, originally as a small record shop, and became a national chain. In 2007, the company was sold to management, and was rebranded as Zavvi. Zavvi entered administration in 2008 and subsequently closed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyperloop One</span> American transportation technology company

Hyperloop One, known as Virgin Hyperloop until November 2022, was an American transportation technology company that worked to commercialize high-speed travel utilizing the Hyperloop concept which was a variant of the vacuum train. The company was established on June 1, 2014, and reorganized and renamed on October 12, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Orbit</span> Defunct American aerospace company

Virgin Orbit was a company within the Virgin Group that provided launch services for small satellites. The company was formed in 2017 as a spin-off of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism venture to develop and market the LauncherOne rocket, which had previously been a project under Virgin Galactic. LauncherOne was a two-stage launch vehicle, air-launched from a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft, designed to deliver 300 kg of payload to low Earth orbit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mates condoms</span>

Mates condoms are a brand of condom sold in the UK.

A timeline of notable events relating to Absolute Radio and its spin-off stations, and its predecessor Virgin 1215/Virgin Radio.

References

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  2. Kensington Roof Gardens to close after more than 35 years The Guardian 3 January 2018
  3. Dearlove, Des (13 Mar 2007). Business the Richard Branson Way: 10 Secrets of the World's Greatest Brand Builder (3 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. pp.  15. ISBN   9781841127668.
  4. "Richard Branson Biography". Bio. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  5. "Polygram's visionary deal". February 1993.
  6. Hosking, Patrick (29 April 1993). "Branson takes to the airwaves: Hopes are high as Virgin Radio begins broadcasting". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  7. "14 Virgin companies that even Richard Branson could not stop going bust". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  8. Branson's Virgin Group wins CrossCountry Trains for 15 years Rail issue 294 18 December 1996 page 6
  9. Virgin to tackle IC West Coast Rail Privatisation News issue 48 20 February 1997 page 1
  10. "Chris Evans takes over at Virgin Radio". BBC News. London. 9 December 1997. Retrieved 24 Sep 2014.
  11. Stagecoach to Acquire 49% Stake in Virgin Rail Today's Railways UK issue 32 August 1998 page 8
  12. Hughes snaps up Broncos Evening Standard 17 September 2001
  13. Branson sells 49% of Virgin Atlantic BBC News 20 December 1999
  14. Virgin Blue To Fly The Aussie Skies Virgin Blue 5 February 2000
  15. Branson sells Virgin music stores BBC News 17 September 2007
  16. Shock as Virgin loses Cross Country to Arriva The Railway Magazine issue 1277 September 2007 page 11
  17. "UKFI confirms completion of Northern Rock sale to Virgin Money" (PDF). UKFI. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  18. Amos, Jonathan (2012-07-11). "Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic to launch small satellites". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  19. Stagecoach/Virgin bid wins East Coast franchise The Railway Magazine issue 1366 January 2015 page 6
  20. "Hyperloop One Is Now 'Virgin Hyperloop One' Thanks to Richard Branson's Investment". Fortune . 2017-10-12.
  21. "New Chairman, New Funding, & New Speed Records". Hyperloop One. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  22. Government terminates Virgin Trains East Coast franchise Railway Gazette International 17 May 2018
  23. FirstGroup replaces Virgin to run West Coast route BBC News 14 August 2019