Virgin Group
Founded by the flamboyant entrepreneur Richard Branson, the Virgin Group has had its provocative insignia blazoned across everything from planes to phones to bottled drinks. Branson’s venture has grown into a conglomerate that has spawned more than 300 branded companies worldwide, employing almost 50,000 personnel in 30 countries, and consistently raking in annual global revenues of over £10 billion.
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The Inside Buzz View
Virgin Group Profile & Stats
Founded by the flamboyant entrepreneur Richard Branson, the Virgin Group has had its provocative insignia blazoned across everything from planes to phones to bottled drinks. After publishing a student magazine aged just 16 in 1968, Branson clearly caught the entrepreneurial bug. Just two years later he launched his now world famous brand Virgin by setting up a mail order record retailer. Such was the success of his enterprise that a buzzing Oxford Street Virgin Record Shop followed just a year later. Virgin Group has since grown into a conglomerate that has spawned more than 300 branded companies worldwide, employing almost 50,000 personnel in 30 countries, and consistently raking in annual global revenues of over £10 billion.
Virgin Atlantic is the most high-profile brand in Branson’s high flying empire. Founded in 1984, the airline’s maiden voyage flew a select group of friends, celebrities and media, setting out Virgin Atlantic’s stall as a quirky dynamic brand. Its red and white planes now jet to 30 destinations worldwide from its main bases at London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airport. Virgin Atlantic has been leading the line in improving flyers’ customer experience during its first 25 years; it was the first to offer individual TVs to business class passengers, the first to offer horizontal beds and now provides more than 300 hours of audio and video on demand as standard. The company has also expanded its reach with the launch of Virgin America and Virgin Blue in Australia. The British entrepreneur’s logo is now attached to a variety of other travel products and enterprises, including holidays, trains and most recently space with Virgin Galactic – the world’s first spaceline.
In 1999, the Virgin Group made its assault on telecommunications with Virgin Mobile. Eschewing convention, the new division shook up the industry with its transparency – making sure there were no hidden costs, thereby making mobile phone calls much cheaper and fairer for the consumer. Today, Virgin Media offers its customers TV, broadband, phone and mobile, providing services in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, the US, as well as in the UK.
Although Virgin has a history in music – having signed legends including the Rolling Stones and the subversive Sex Pistols – Virgin Records was sold to EMI in 1992. However, Branson’s group is still ensconced in the industry, selling CDs, DVDs, games, books, apparel and electronics from Virgin stores in France, Germany, the US, Greece, Australia and the Middle East and Gulf countries. The group also runs V Festival, one of the UK’s leading music festivals. Furthermore, Virgin Radio International now participates in FM radio ventures broadcasting to a potential audience of over 250 million people globally.
As if forays into music, travel and telecommunications weren’t enough, the Virgin Group has set out its stall in both the lifestyle arena and financial services. In the former, Virgin has 170 health clubs and more than 900,000 members worldwide. In addition, the lifestyle arm incorporates everything from Virgin Gaming to Virgin Balloons via Virgin Wines. Virgin’s financial services division provides multifarious products to customers in the UK, Australia and South Africa.
With so many different companies and various roles within them, listing Virgin’s various roles here would be more than a little overwhelming. To illustrate the scope, the Virgin Group offers jobs on planes, trains and shop floors, as well as in gyms, call centres and offices in places as diverse as Scotland and Australia. Virgin recommends you search its website’s job page and begin your search by picking a particular business, job area or location.
