Richard's Blog - April 2012

Virgin Atlantic will appeal BA bmi merger

In all of our years of business, one of the key things that we have taken away is that corporate rivalry or ‘competitiveness’ can be a catalyst for huge industry change, driving innovation and extending consumer choice. A dynamic new entrant to a marketplace can challenge thinking, force competitors to innovate and generally raise the bar for the product or experience in that market. Ultimately this leads to pioneering product development, sharper service and ultimately much better v…

Brazilian students on education

I blogged a few months ago on a brilliant discussion we had in Brazil with a group of students, and we now have a translation into Portuguese. As I have been back in South America meeting with more students, I thought we would share it with you now.One of the students The Elders met with in Brazil commented on the importance of education: “I live in a poor community where people cannot afford to care about tomorrow let alone the next generation.“Schools should communicate more to peo…

What’s your hidden talent?

Have you seen my latest party trick? Don’t try this at home, folks!What’s your hidden talent? Upload your own talent to Virgin Media’s Talent School and you could win tickets to the Britain’s Got Talent final.I wonder if Simon Cowell has got a better talent……

Unaffordable, inaccessible university systems

All over the world, university students are ratcheting up thousands of dollars/pounds/pesos worth of debts, completely unnecessarily. Lengthy university courses are set more for the convenience of the professors rather than the students and yet the students end up paying for them. Here in Chile, seven year courses are not uncommon and the debts that the students accumulate for their courses are real debts unlike in other countries. So if a student cannot afford to repay their student loans, it d…

Helping kids with art and education

If you’re going to write a book on “Screw Business as Usual”, your business has got to put your money where your mouth is. Virgin Mobile Chile is doing just that by supporting young people who live under bridges throughout Santiago. It was great to meet the kids and also the wonderful woman Pia Salas who heads up Abrazarte, which tries to get young people education and guidance and helps get them to stand on their own two feet.Hats off to everybody at Virgin Mobile Chile and Ab…

“Cambio El Chip” - supporting youth entrepreneurialism

While in Chile launching Virgin Mobile Chile, we are also looking to support the thriving young entrepreneurial talent in the country. Today we have a get together with more than 300 young Chileans for an entrepreneurial discussion on how to succeed while also making your business a force for good.Chile is doing remarkably well, it has got 5% growth and is moving in the right direction. There are extremes in wealth in Chile and the challenge is to lift as many people out from the poverty level a…

Jose Maria Figueres new Carbon War Room President

Welcome to Jose Maria Figueres, the new President of the Carbon War Room. It’s fantastic to have somebody of Jose Maria’s stature and commitment running the Carbon War Room.Jose Maria was president of Costa Rica between 94-98 (one term constitution). He mainstreamed the environment into all national planning programs as the business opportunity it is. He is famous for coining the phrase “there is no planet B”. His father was also President of Costa Rica and abolished the …

Bit weird?

Bit weird? David Tennant reckons so, but Virgin Media and I think everyone needs space to relax.

In Santiago, Chile

Excited to be in Santiago, Chile, to launch Virgin Mobile.While here, also paying great attention to the upcoming Summit of the Americas starting Saturday in Colombia, where leaders from across this hemisphere will discuss drug policy reform for the first time. It's no secret that the war on drugs is costing billions and leading to more violence while making drug cartels richer and more powerful. Joining a discussion with Asuntos del Sur here and hoping that Chile's leaders will join the call fo…

Our first Virgin people in South America

Here is a photo of our first people in South America. Virgin has been slow to get into the South American market. But better late than never! We will be launching Virgin Mobile Latin America networks in both Chile and Colombia later this year. On the way to Chile now, look forward to meeting all the Virgin Mobile Chile team soon. For those of you in South America:Aquí hay una foto de nuestro primer equipo en Sudamérica. Virgin ha demorado en llegar al mercado Latinoamericano, pe…

Recent Posts

Archive

Advertisement

Deal Of The Day

Good deal? Leave us a comment on Facebook.

Recommendations

This site is an open forum for users to post content so, although we hope users will behave appropriately, we can't take responsibility for what they post and we have to state that user content is not the view of Virgin.com or any Virgin company. If you object to any content, please let us know straight away at our contact us page. If you are posting content, please make sure you comply with our terms and conditions to avoid causing offence or harm to other users or to Virgin. Please also read our community guidelines. Thanks!