Childrens Corner

And, for those who lack the necessary funds, but still hanker after a journey into space, there is always the frequent fl yer miles option. You will need quite a few though; two million or so, possibly. That’s how many Alan Watts in the UK racked up with Virgin when he was offered a one-off opportunity to upgrade to a space fl ight in 2009. He accepted.

With Virgin Galactic the sky is not the limit. Branson has no
intention of sticking with a brief trip in suborbital space. The plan is to extend the service both to point-to-point suborbital routes around the planet, as well as orbital trips, and eventually the moon.

As well as various companies, Branson also acquired a more unusual asset in 2003 when he bought Makepeace Island in Queensland, Australia. Most companies have a company canteen, the odd corporate day out, but Branson now has an island resort for the Virgin staff.

Branson has been raising money recently, selling Virgin’s stake in several ventures. The 51 percent holding in Virgin.net was sold to cable business NTL. The same company also bought Virgin Mobile in 2006, with Branson taking a signifi cant take in NTL at the same time. In Australia there was the successful IPO of Virgin Blue.

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s

The good news is that the punctuality fi gures in 2005 and 2006 were a marked improvement on those in 2002 when, according to Strategic Rail Authority fi gures, only 73.6 per cent of West Coast trains and 62.5 per cent of cross-country trains arrived within ten minutes of the scheduled arrival time. Delivery of the Pendolino tilting trains, traveling at speeds of up to 140 miles per hour, as well as replacement of old rolling stock, has made a big difference. By April 2006 the punctuality fi gures were 92 per cent for West Coast Pendolino trains and 93 per cent for crosscountry Voyager services.

Elsewhere in the Virgin empire, however, it has been business as usual. New Virgin ventures continue to be added to the eclectic
collection of companies gathered under the Virgin brand umbrella at breakneck speed. These include Virgin Cars, Virgin Wines, Virgin Student, Virgin Energy, Virgin Bikes, and Virgin Digital.

At the same time as adding to the Virgin portfolio, a number of
existing Virgin companies have been expanding rapidly. Virgin Active became the fourth largest health and fi tness group in the world, raising £100 million for its expansion plans in the UK and abroad. In September 2006 it bought Holmes Place, its biggest UK rival. In Manchester, Virgin Cars drove a truck through the usual car sales business model opening the fi rst ever vehicle department store.

The venture that has attracted the most column inches in the last few years, however, has to be Virgin Galactic. For everyone who dreamt of being an astronaut when they were younger, for budding space travellers everywhere, Branson is about to launch the world’s fi rst passenger service into suborbital space. For $200,000 or so, passengers will be able to soar above the Earth and enjoy the delights of weightlessness, albeit briefl y.

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s

Branson may have looked fetching in a bridal outfi t (minus beard) stirring up a PR frenzy for the launch of Virgin Brides in 1996, as the company opened its fl agship London store. Not only were there the usual wedding dresses and accessories but there was also a wedding planning service that extended to arranging the entire event if required. A shop in Manchester followed in 2001. But the honeymoon was soon over. The London store closed in 2003, and the remaining Manchester store focused on a reduced service concentrating on clothes and accessories rather than the planning.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Branson in recent years has been Virgin Trains. Virgin Trains’ services hit the buffers early on, and the company has struggled to get back on track ever since. At times the Virgin Trains railway franchises have plumbed new depths of train service misery; quite an achievement in the UK where trains are famously ineffi cient. It’s tempting to feel sorry for Branson. The rail franchises grew to be something of a poisoned chalice. At one point it seemed that no matter what Branson said or did the bad publicity from Virgin’s tardy railway operations just kept on coming.

In 1999, Virgin Trains had the worst record for punctuality in the country, according to fi gures from the shadow strategic rail authority. In February 2001, an attempt to increase the number of rail travellers on Virgin Trains through a half-price rail fare bonanza ran into problems due to underestimated demand. Branson promised, “to capture the imagination of passengers who have suffered traffi c jams.” Unfortunately, the reality was people jams – with huge queues and long waits for tickets, whether buying tickets over the phone or in person. The ensuing chaos and adverse publicity took the edge off of a genuine and generous offer.

The Virgin Trains saga has undoubtedly been diffi cult for Virgin.
At times Virgin Trains appeared to be the antithesis of everything
Richard Branson stands for. Knowing that maintaining public trust and confi dence in the Virgin name underpins the success of the whole Virgin Group, Branson has always gone to great lengths to protect his brand image. The poor performance of Virgin Trains has threatened to undermine that trust. In his defense, Virgin Trains inherited 30-year-old rolling stock, running on a railway that had been underfunded for years. When Branson took up the challenge of running the rail franchises he acknowledged that it would take fi ve years to turn the lines operated from the worst in the country to the best. He was right.

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s

Since this book was last revised much has happened in the Branson business empire. Not everything has gone Branson’s way. While one of his more recent ventures, Virgin Galactic, has Branson shooting for the stars, a number of endeavours have proved less meteoric. Yet, although Branson has suffered his share of setbacks, they are comparatively few for someone who has run a billion-dollar business for thirty plus years. The fact that much is made of any disappointments in the Virgin corporate portfolio only serves to highlight the company’s resounding overall success. And, ever the optimist, Branson continues to spin off ideas, back new Virgin businesses, and whip up PR in the media for his various ventures.

It wasn’t that long ago that some commentators were suggesting
Branson may have lost his Midas touch. Prematurely, as it turns out. In 1999, the year after the fi rst edition of Business The Richard Branson Way was published, Branson featured in Forbes magazine’s list of the World’s Richest People with a fortune estimated at $2.6 billion.

By 2000 that fi gure had risen to $3.3 billion. Yet in 2001, Branson’s
net worth had declined to some $1.8 billion. Part of the reason for this sharp reduction in value was plainly outside of Branson’s infl uence; a global economic slowdown.

Another reason, however, was that the Virgin brand proved not
to be as infi nitely elastic as many commentators had suggested.
Although, in splendid style, Branson donned army fatigues and rode into Times Square in a battle tank to launch Virgin Cola in the US, as part of an assault on the cola market, the cola venture eventually fell a little fl at. In February 2000, Virgin admitted defeat in its war against Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola in the US. The new version of cola had lost its fi zz, without making much of a dent in the cola market, Virgin changed the strategy, management and location of its soft drinks business, concentrating instead on “new age” drinks, including fruit juices and energy beverages.

Taken From: Business The Richard Branson Way
10 Secrets of the Word’s

I started to play tennis more on Necker. It’s good to concentrate on the game and think of nothing else. Having learned to focus without .y mind wandering and, after many years of avoiding books, started reading more about nine years ago. I have always ead, but not heavy books, but I was surprised and pleased at how uickly I got going. I speed read but, thanks to my early problems at chool, absorb it all. I don’t allow myself to trip over slow or tricky ords, but get the meaning from the flow and sense of the section. ow that I have started, reading has become a great pleasure. I like history books best – which has led to my interest in archaeology. At the moment, I am funding a dive off the coast of Egypt to survey he ancient city of Alexandria. My favourite books are Stalingrad by ntony Beevor and Wild Swans by Jung Chang.

But I still can’t use a aptop. People have given me a Blackberry and mobile phones, but I ave always written everything down in school notebooks. It started hen I found reading and writing hard at school and, to make up for hat, built up a very good long-term memory. Now I jot down key ords in my notebooks and later, if I need to, I find a note and I can recall entire conversations. This has stood me in very good stead ore than once when I have needed to prove something. But it’s not ust conversations – I also jot down my own thoughts. Anything I see nd hear can spark an idea in me. I note it down at once and ften look back through old notebooks to gain fresh ideas or to see hat I might have missed. I would advise young people starting out in ife to keep a notebook with them. It’s a good habit to get into.

I still elieve in all the tasks my mother set us, but have applied them to a lesser degree with my own children, Holly and Sam. They live in he modern world, but like me they were brought up to challenge hemselves. I encouraged them but never pushed them. Joan is a ery own-to-earth Scottish woman. She made sure that we were lways around other family members. We live a very stable, normal life nd as a result, Holly and Sam are very well balanced.

All the hings in this book are my lessons and my goals in life, the things I elieve in. But they are not unique to me. Everyone needs to keep learning. Everyone needs goals. Each and every one of my lessons can be applied to all of us. Whatever we want to be, whatever we ant to do, we can do it. Go ahead; take that first step – just do it.

Taken From : Screw It,Let’s Do It

In 2004 I brought myself closer to my vision of helping more people by setting up Virgin Unite. It is intended as a way of getting all the irgin staff around the world to work together to help with tough ocial problems. I hope we can continue to make a difference.

EPILOGUE

I HAVE ALWAYS LIVED my life by thriving on chances and dventure. The motive that drives me has always been to set myself hallenges and try to achieve them. Every lesson I have learned has een as a direct result of these tests.

They include:

·Just do it
·Think es, not no
·Challenge yourself
·Have goals
·Have fun
·Make a ifference
·Stand on your own feet
·Be loyal
·Live life to the full

The best time of the day for me is evening, at Necker, seated around a big, happy table, with my family and friends having fun. This paradise island combines many of my dreams and aims in life. When Joan and I irst found the island, buying it became a goal. Raising the money nd building a house on it, then getting water in, were huge tests to e passed. I never once said. ‘Can’t’. I went for it, and we did it. oday, it’s a place where my family and friends and I have a lot of un. It’s where I relax and think – and where some of my best ideas ome out of the blue. I have to keep an open mind to see their virtue.

Taken From : Screw It,Let’s Do It

When I re-read what I had written, I realised that as a businessman I could do a great deal of good. The rescue mission to Iraq had roved it. As a businessman, I meet incredible people like Nelson andela world leaders like the Russian premier, and people of vast ealth like Bill Gates and Microsoft’s lesser-known co-founder Paul llen. In fact, people in business and the very wealthy are in a unique osition. They can connect with everyone, whether high or ow, in any country, though a network of good will.

I believe they an se that power wisely, for the good of the world – exactly as I aid in my first ever Student column. My daughter Holly, who is a edical student, is interested in the sexual issues facing young people in the UK. We

Have come full circle from where I started out in the orld, as she volunteers when she can at Virgin Unite and at contact s at Portobello Road in West London if they need counseling.

My riginal love, music, is also a strong force for good. You only have to ook at Live Aid and Live 8 and the incredible work that people like Peter Gabriel, Bono and Bob Geldof do in raising money for famine elief and other disasters in the third world to see that. Princess iana id so much for charity when she was alive, and I was pleased o be able to help her with that in some small way. So I was very roud when I persuaded Elton John to sing ‘Candle in the Wind’ at her uneral. The record sold 33 million copies worldwide and made £20 illion. This was all given to charity, exactly as Diana would have wished.

Taken From : Screw It,Let’s Do It

A day later, King Hussein phoned e. ‘I have good news for you, sir. You can set off for Iraq. I have Saddam’s word that you will be safe.’ I had one major worry before I set off. In spite of King ussein’s promise, many expected Saddam to take me and Edward eath hostage and impound the plane. Because of the risk, we had no nsurance. If Saddam did seize the plane, we would go bust. I as isking everything on this venture – but too many people epended on me. There was no backing out.

When we left Iraq with he hostages and Edward Heath safely on board, we were so relieved ll the way back. But one person wasn’t happy. The boss of BA aid, ‘Who the hell does Richard Branson think he is – part of the loody Foreign Office?’

Afterwards I wrote in my diary, ‘What are the otives for doing such things? A month ago, I was at an all-time low. seemed to have run out of a purpose in my life. I’d proved yself in many areas. I’d just turned forty. I was seeking a new hallenge…’

Taken From : Screw It,Let’s Do It

Come on out and stay with us, Richard. You can discuss it with the king yourself,’ she said. In Jordan yet again, I spent three days alking to King Hussein. He agreed that something must be done uickly before things got worse. I sat down and with a lot of care rote a very polite letter by hand to Saddam. I asked if he would elease all the foreigners who were trapped in Iraq. To show goodwill would fly in medical supplies that Iraq was short of. I signed it, ‘Yours respectfully, Richard Branson.’

After dinner that ight, the king took my letter to his study and translated it into rabic. He also wrote his own personal cover letter to Saddam and ent it by special courier to Iraq. I could do no more and flew home.

Two nights later, I heard from King Hussein. It was very good news. Saddam said that women and children, but he wanted someone of tature to fly to Iraq ask him in person, on TV. I phoned Sir Edward eath, the former prime minister. We got on well because of our utual nterest in boats. Very bravely, he agreed to go at once. The lan was to stay with the royal family. From there, he would get safe assage to Iraq.

Taken From : Screw It,Let’s Do It

Virgin airline staff got to work, phoning around. In two day one of our jumbo jets was on its way to Jordan with 40,000 blankets, tons f rice and medical supplies. We returned with British people who had een stranded in Jordan. As soon as I returned to Britain, I was told hat the head of British Airways was hopping mad. He said they hould have been asked. It was pointed out to him that I had offered nd he hadn’t. In fact, he had apparently refused to let BA help in nter-national crisis, even when approached by Christian Aid. So, at nce, he found a load of blankets and rushed them to Jordan. I was leased that our example had partly pushed him into helping.

When I eard that our supplies had not reached all the refugees, I flew to ordan and again stayed with the king and queen in the royal palace. I argued with a minister who I knew had blocked things from moving nd got him to send the supplies to the refugee camps. I also had ong talks with king Hussein about Saddam. The king wanted Jordan o remain neutral in the conflict that by then seemed likely. His ountry was in a very weak position and he also saw both sides of he icture. He hoped things could be sorted out through talks – but e was worried that the West might go to war to protect the oilfields n Kuwait. He knew there was very little time.

A few days later I was atching the news in London, when I saw Saddam on TV. He had aken British hostages and was using them as a human shield. I hought about what I could do to help. I was one of the very few estern people who had direct access to King Hussein. He in turn was one of the very few people that Saddam trusted. We could cut out ll the angry people in the middle and perhaps King Hussein could talk o Saddam and put my suggestion to hi. I called Queen Noor and sked if she could help with my plan.

Taken From : Screw It,Let’s Do It