It was our 6th annual Virgin Stars of the Year Dinner last Friday, where a chosen group of Virgin employees from around the world are recognised and thanked for all their hard work. I joined them all at the Kensington Roof Gardens in London to celebrate the night away in style.

These staff members have been recognised as Virgin Stars through a combination of peer and management nominations for having ‘gone the extra mile’. It was a fantastic night and there were Stars from the UK, America, South Africa, Australia, France, Switzerland, Canada and Italy.

The night started with a champagne reception at Babylon, the restaurant at the Roof Gardens, and lots of pictures outside on the balcony. It was brilliant to meet the Stars and their guests. Babylon was yet again a wonderful setting and the staff their all helped to make it a great night.  I was lucky enough to be on a terrific table with the Stars from Virgin Blue, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Money, Virgin Galactic and the winner of the Innovation award.

This year we presented some extra special awards which highlight great examples of everything we stand for at Virgin, whether in business, customer service, innovation, community or environment. There were lots of deserving nominees but the winners on the night were:

- Customer Service: Talli Osborne from Virgin Mobile Canada
- Innovation: Sarah Kingsbury and Alison Smith, the V Room Project Team from Virgin Holidays
- Community:  Samantha Springall from Virgin Holidays
- Environment:  Stefano Romani from Virgin Active Italy

My daughter Holly was also there and drew the raffle for our prizes of trips to Ulusaba (our private game reserve in South Africa) and Necker (our island in the Caribbean). Hopefully a perfect way of saying thank you to the Stars!

The night didn't finish with the raffle, but continued on in the VIP Moo Room at the Roof Gardens and I have it on good authority that the Stars continued the party and danced the night away long after I'd left...

This is one of my favourite nights of the year. It’s great to gather the best people that Virgin has to offer from around the world, get them all in one room and crack open the champagne!

The celebrations didn’t end there though. On Saturday I went along to Virgin Unite’s 5th birthday party for the UK team and many of their supporters. It was another enjoyable evening and a great opportunity to celebrate their many achievements over the last five years, including the launch of the Elders, the Bhubezi Clinic, the Rural Transport Network and The Branson School of Entrepreneurship. The event was held to thank some of our amazing partners based in London as well as the many dedicated and selfless supporters working so tirelessly on the front lines.

Happy birthday Virgin Unite!