Richard's Blog - 2010

Our first corporate responsibility and sustainable development report

Someone wiser than I once said that ‘knowledge is power’ – and so in the 21st Century we have no excuse to sit back and let our planet and its people continue to suffer. As “global citizens” of the world we are facing serious environmental and social challenges; climate change, a lack of key resources, widespread poverty, conflicts and enormous population growth are all threatening to destabilise our fragile status quo. Scientists have been telling us for years that…

Calling all entrepreneurs - take part in PitchTV

We're inviting entrepreneurs in search of investment and exposure for their business ideas to upload short video pitches to Virgin Atlantic's PitchTV - a show which is airing on their inflight entertainment system.The best pitches will feature as part of the PitchTV show - gaining exposure to the hundreds of business professionals who regularly fly Virgin Atlantic. Anyone interested in hearing more about the entrepreneurs' business ideas will then be able to g…

VSS Enterprise takes off

Had news today from the Mojave desert that our spaceship has flown for the very first time. Not quite to space yet but a big step closer. I was sent some amazing pictures and despite being on holiday in Bali, wished I could have been there to see it. Have a look at some of the pictures by Mark Greenberg in this blog. The 3 hour flight went absolutely to plan and everyone at Virgin Galactic obviously in a celebratory mood - and rightly so.…

From Bahrain to Melbourne to the World Cup

After a weekend in Bahrain watching our Virgin Racing team make its debut in Grand Prix racing; I'm heading to South Africa for the launch of V Australia's latest route from Johannesburg to Melbourne. But it's one of our other airlines, Virgin Atlantic making the news today with the announcement that it will be flying the England football team to South Africa for this summer's World Cup.It is a great honour for Atlantic and we promise the team will be looked after in style by our world-cla…

Virgin Media Pioneers

I believe there is a huge amount we can do to unlock entrepreneurial potential in the UK and beyond. I am pleased that Virgin Media has launched its Virgin Media Pioneers to help young entrepreneurs to fulfil their dreams of owning and managing successful businesses. Starting up your own business is a big challenge and many of the obstacles are daunting and, at times, can seem impossibly tough. One needs to put in a great amount of hard work, but with the right support and expert advice young …

Virgin enters healthcare sector with Assura Medical

Virgin Group has entered the healthcare sector with majority shareholding in Assura Medical. Healthcare is a sector that the Virgin Group has been extremely interested in entering for some time but we have always said that the partner and the timing had to be right – with Assura we believe we have found the perfect partner. The Assura Medical business is underpinned by a passion for patients, a strong focus for delivering quality and safe health outcomes and a commitment to work in partn…

Ice Dancing Through Canada

Just finished a whirlwind visit to Montreal and Vancouver. I tend to pack a lot into my days, and this trip was no exception. Entrepreneurs, MBA students, environmentally-minded mayors, Olympic skating, Olympic gold medalists ice carving, epic parties, free coffee to commuters: last week had a bit of everything. The week kicked off with two speaking engagements, first to meet Montreal’s business leaders at Power Within and then 1,300 of Canada’s future business leaders and their teac…

Building better working models of philanthropy is critical

The recent earthquake in Haiti somberly reminds us how fragile our hold on the planet is. The short tremor caused untold damage, killing hundreds of thousands of people and wrecking the lives of many others.The world has taken notice and is sending food, clean water and medicine. Governments, former US presidents, firms, everyday individuals and even children are helping Haiti, whether through donations, services or events.In the midst of this tremendous reaction, one of the biggest tasks has be…

Richard's Virgin London Marathon Team 2010 revealed

Today I was joined by the lovely TV presenter Jenni Falconer and fabulous singer Michelle Heaton to kick off 'Team 2010' - we'll be running the Virgin London Marathon on the 25th of April along with a few other familiar faces and 100 brave Virgin runners!The team is really excited about the 26.2 mile adventure ahead, hoping to raise lots of money for vulnerable young people in the UK through Virgin Unite, while having as much fun as possible.  It’s a lot of hard work a…

What a car! Introducing the VR-01

What a car! Nick (Wirth) and his design team have done an incredible job and so today they deserve all of the spotlight. It’s been fantastic to be part of this journey almost from the very beginning and to see a great engineering mind at work. I’m sure we will be measured by how fast the car is on the track in Jerez next week, but I hope that doesn’t overshadow the far bigger achievement of pulling an entire racing team together and taking a brave step that defies convention. …

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