Virgin Group Ltd is a British multinational

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

conglomerate founded by

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

and

Nik Powell Nikolas Mark 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 part ...

in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...

, who class it as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

; however, Virgin's business and trading activities date back to the 1970s. The net worth of Virgin Group was estimated at £3 billion as of early 2023.

History

The name "Virgin" arose in 1970 when

and

formed a

record shop A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music. Per the name, in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records. But over the course of t ...

, first as mail order and in 1971 with a physical store. They considered themselves virgins in business. Branson has described the "V" in the logo as an expressive

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

, 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 and Nik Powell. 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 designer Ray Kyte scribbled on a napkin after a design meeting.

Corporate affairs

Virgin Group has its headquarters in Whitfield Studios in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

, a district of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

. The group moved to this location in November 2024; the space is renowned for its music history as a creative hub for musical legends such as the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Spice Girls & Amy Winehouse. Whitfield Studios also houses the head offices for other Virgin Group owned companies, such as Virgin Red, Virgin Unite, Virgin StartUp, Virgin Limited Edition & Big Change. Previously, the Virgin Group were based at the Porchester Building in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

, The Battleship Building in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, a district of the

and at The School House in

Brook Green Brook Green is an affluent sub-neighbourhood of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Located approximately west of Charing Cross, it is bordered by Kensington, Holland Park, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Brackenbury ...

, in the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London boroughs, London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 as the London Borough of Hammersmith from the merger of the former Metr ...

. The Virgin Group of companies have a complex structure that contains elements of a generic conglomerate and a ''

keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings that dominated the Japanese economy in the second half of the 20th century. In the legal sense, it is a type of business group that is in a loosely organized al ...

'', and sometimes it simply licences its brand. Examples of licensing are

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

and

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

, which are owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

and

Liberty Global Liberty Global Ltd. is a British-Dutch-American multinational telecommunications company domiciled in Bermuda, with headquarters in London, Amsterdam and Denver. Its respective legal names are Liberty Global Holdings Limited (UK), Liberty Glo ...

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, ...

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 term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(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 on 4 December 2014 with financial backing from

Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...

. The cruise line would be led by CEO Tom McAlpin, 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, Branson 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 is an American retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and hypermarkets, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the United States, and a component of th ...

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., who won a six-week rental space at intu Lakeside, the shopping centre 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 (1970–2009)

List of former chief executives

# Sir Richard Branson (1970–2005) # Stephen Murphy (2005–2011) # David Baxby and Josh Bayliss (2011–2014)

Subsidiaries and investments

G-VINE A330 Virgin Atlantic by Mark Harkin

Formerly owned ventures

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via digital audio broadcasting. The station focuses on alternative ...

: formerly Virgin Radio UK, rebranded in 2008 * Air Nigeria: Nigerian national airline launched as Virgin Nigeria, shares sold in 2010 * Connect Airways ( Flybe): 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 India, Indian comic book publishing company, founded in 2006 as Virgin Comics LLC, which produces stories (many of which are Indian-culture related) for an international audience. The company was founded by Sir Richard Branson ...

: comic book producer formerly known as Virgin Comics—sold to management in 2008 * Vie at Home: cosmetics retailer formerly known as Virgin Vie, sold to management in 2009 *

Virgin America Virgin America Inc. was a low-cost airline headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Burlingame, California. It primarily focused on operating low-fare, higher-quality service between cities on the West Coast of the United States a ...

: North American airline, sold to Alaska Air Group on 14 Dec 2016 * Virgin Brides: retailer specialising in bridal wear * Virgin Care 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 wa ...

of private aircraft seat bookings *

Virgin Cinemas Virgin Cinemas was founded in 1995 when Richard Branson's Virgin Group acquired MGM Cinemas, the largest cinema operator in the United Kingdom. Virgin Group bought the cinemas for £195m, and subsequently sold 90 of the chain's smallest cinema ...

: sold to UGC in 1999 * Virgin Digital Help: technical support * Virgin Drinks: drink manufacturer ** Virgin Cola: carbonated cola soft drink ** Virgin Vodka: alcoholic beverage ** v-Mix: spirit mixers * Virgin Electronics: electronics retailer * Virgin Energy: joint venture energy provider * Virgin Express: airline based in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, merged with

SN Brussels Airlines SN Brussels Airlines (SNBA) was the flag carrier 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 rest ...

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 V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

: 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 Group, Virgin name, and more recently ...

: a North American version of the V Festival * Virgin Films: film production company *

Virgin Games Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

: sold to Gamesys in 2013 * Virgin Green Fund: shut down in 2014 * Virgin Health Bank: sold to

Qatar Foundation The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development () is a state-led non-profit organization in Qatar, founded in 1995 by then-List of emirs of Qatar, emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser Al-Miss ...

Virgin Hyperloop Hyperloop One, known as Virgin Hyperloop until November 2022, was an American transportation engineering, transportation technology company that worked to commercialize high-speed travel utilizing the Hyperloop concept which was a variant of th ...

: High Speed Rail Travel - Rebranded back to previous name ‘Hyperloop One’, went bankrupt in January 2024. *

Virgin Interactive Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

: Game Developer and publisher, bought by various companies, and renamed Avalon Interactive in 2003 * Virgin Limobike: Virgin Atlantic announced they will cut complimentary ground transfers for Upper Class passengers in February 2020 - Virgin Limobike has since rebranded to ‘Limobike’ * 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 which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

service that operated mostly in the US and Canada. It operated for 14 years, until November 2010. *

(including Virgin Mobile UK): UK Cable TV, broadband internet and Fixed and Mobile telephony provider—bought by

* Virgin Mobile Australia: mobile phone service provider in Australia—shares sold to

Optus Singtel Optus Pty Limited is an Australian Telecommunications in Australia, telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiar ...

in 2006 * Virgin Mobile France: mobile phone service provider in France—shares sold to Numericable-SFR in 2014 * Virgin Mobile India: mobile phone service provider in India—shares sold to

Tata Teleservices Tata Teleservices Limited along with its subsidiary Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited is an Indian internet services provider and IT services company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is listed on BSE and NSE in India. History On 13 ...

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 being acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. Th ...

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 (BOQ), formerly known as the Brisbane Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society (BPBBIS) between 1874–1970, is an Australian retail bank with headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland. The bank is one of the oldest fi ...

* Virgin Money US: sold in 2010 *

Virgin Music Virgin Music, known as Virgin Music Label & Artist Services until 2022 and originally as Caroline Distribution, was a music distributor of independent artists and record labels, most prominently Death Grips, Weezer, and Radiohead. Virgin Music ...

: sold to

* Virgin One account: shareholding sold to co-owner (RBS) in 2003 *

Virgin Orbit 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 LauncherOn ...

: aerospace - declared

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

bankruptcy on 4 April 2023 * Virgin Sports: Active lifestyle company - Sold to LimeLight Sports in September 2020 * Virgin Sun Airlines: scheduled and charter airline, closed in 2001 * Virgin Play: 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 ...

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 that operated the InterCity CrossCountry passenger franchise from January 1997 until November 2007. Along with the InterCity West Coast franchise held by a separate legal ...

: former operator of the Cross Country

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

franchise in the United Kingdom, superseded by Arriva CrossCountry 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

: 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 List of Formula One constructors#Team's ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor racing team * Virgin Racing Formula E Team:

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

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 The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. Renewed franchise bid unsuccessful, superseded by

Avanti West Coast First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading name, trading as Avanti West Coast, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership. In November 2016, the Department for Tra ...

in December 2019 (51%) *

Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the No ...

: train operating company, supersed by

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company which operates most services on the East Coast Main Line. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the Londo ...

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 in 1989. * Virgin Vacations: Former USA based tour operator, closed on 31 March 2019

Controversies

The group's health business received significant media coverage over its legal battle with NHS groups. It sued

clinical commissioning group Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were National Health Service (England), National Health Service (NHS) organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to replace Strategic health authority, strategic health authorities and NHS pr ...

s (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".

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