Virgin Group

Virgin Group Ltd.

Type	Private (Limited liability)
Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	1970 (Incorporation: 1989)
Founder(s)	Sir Richard Branson
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Key people	Sir Richard Branson,Chairman Stephen Murphy, CEO Mark Poole, CFO
Products	Beverages Airlines Trains Games Consumer electronics Financial services Films Internet Cable TV Music Radio Books Cosmetics Jewellery Houseware Retail Mobile phones
Revenue	US$18 billion  (2008)
Employees	50,000
Website	www.virgin.com

 Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding company; however Virgin's business and trading activities date to the 1970s. The net worth of Virgin Group Ltd as of September 2008 is £5.01 billion. It consists of more than 400 companies around the world.

Virgin Group operates from its headquarters at The School House, 50 Brook Green in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

Although Branson retains complete ownership and control of the Virgin Brand, the commercial set-up of companies using it is varied and complex. Each of the companies operating under the Virgin brand is a separate entity, with Branson completely owning some and holding minority or majority stakes in others. Occasionally, he simply licenses the brand to a company that has purchased a division from him, such as Virgin Mobile USA, Virgin Mobile Australia, Virgin Radio and Virgin Music (now part of EMI).

The brand name "Virgin" arose when Branson and a partner were starting their first business, a record shop. They considered themselves virgins in business. The current Virgin logo was originally sketched on a paper napkin and remains largely unchanged since 1979.

Virgin brand

Further information: List of Richard Branson's business ventures

AirAsia X — long-haul budget airline operating from Malaysia (16% owned by Virgin Group)

Air Nigeria — regional and domestic Nigerian airline, was Virgin Nigeria Airways (49% owned by Virgin Group)

V Festival — two-day music festival held in two separate locations in the United Kingdom

V Festival (Australia) — an Australian version of the V Festival

Virgin Festival — a North American version of the V Festival

Virgin Active — a health club chain in Australia, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the UK

Virgin America — a United States budget airline based at San Francisco International Airport (25% owned by Virgin Group)

Virgin Atlantic Airways — an international carrier based at London Heathrow Airport

Virgin Balloon Flights — a hot air balloon operator

Virgin Blue Holdings Limited

Virgin Blue — an Australian-based airline operating in the South Pacific

Blue Holidays — The holiday program of Virgin Blue, now a joint venture between Virgin Blue and Zuji

Pacific Blue — a Virgin Blue subsidiary based in New Zealand

Polynesian Blue — a Virgin Blue subsidiary based in Samoa

V Australia — a Virgin Blue international subsidiary offering flights between Australia and the USA, Thailand and South Africa (March 2010)

Virgin Books — publisher, retailer and distributor of books (10% owned by Virgin Group)

Virgin Brides — bridal wear shop in Manchester, UK

Virgin Cars — internet automobile retailer

Virgin Charter — a private jet online marketplace

Virgin Comics — comic book producer

Virgin Drinks — drink manufacturer

Virgin Cola — carbonated cola soft drink

Virgin Vodka — alcoholic beverage

v-Mix - spirit mixers

Virgin Energy — a former UK energy supplier

Virgin Experience Days — corporate and consumer experience events

Virgin Flowers — Internet florist

Virgin Galactic — a venture to market and operate commercial space flights, using spacecraft designed by Scaled Composites

Virgin Games — online games, online casino, online poker, online bingo

Class 390 Pendolino, Virgin Trains service at Rugby

Virgin Green Fund (originally known as Virgin Fuels) — venture capital firm for investing in petroleum alternatives

Virgin Health Bank — a business enabling parents to store their baby's stem cells

Virgin Healthcare provides a selection of healthcare services tailored to local demand

Virgin HealthMiles

Virgin Holidays — UK travel agency and tour operator for worldwide destinations served by Virgin Atlantic and its partner companies

Virgin Holidays Cruises — UK cruise holiday agent

Travel City Direct - UK Online Travel Agent for holidays to Florida. Acquired from the now defunct XL Leisure Group after it went into administration.

Travel City Direct Cruises — UK cruise holiday operator for holidays to Florida and the Caribbean

Virgin Limited Edition — exclusive hotel operator

Kasbah Tamadot — exclusive Moroccan holiday destination

Lady B — luxurious Catamaran available for Caribbean charters

The Lodge — ski lodge

Natirar — private spa located in Somerset County, New Jersey

Necker Island — exclusive island in British Virgin Islands for private hire

The Roof Gardens and Babylon — 1.5 acres (6,100 m2) open air gardens, venue, nightclub and restaurant in Kensington, London

Ulusaba — exclusive game reserve in South Africa

Virgin Limobike — passenger bike service in London

Virgin Limousines — chauffeured limousine service in San Francisco and Northern California

Virgin Media — provider of home telephone, cable television, broadband and mobile services to the United Kingdom

Virgin Megastores — CD, DVD and games retailer chain with high—street and online stores

Virgin XS — Factory Outlet—orientated format of Virgin Megastores

Virgin Mobile — brand used by several companies providing mobile phone service around the world

Virgin Mobile UK — provides mobile phone service in the United Kingdom, now part of Virgin Media

Virgin Mobile Australia — provider of mobile phone service in Australia

Virgin Mobile Canada — provider of mobile phone service in Canada

Virgin Mobile South Africa — provider of mobile phone service in South Africa

Virgin Mobile USA — provider of mobile phone service in the United States

Virgin Mobile France — provider of mobile phone service in France

Virgin Mobile India — provider of mobile phone service in India

Virgin Money — providers of financial services

Virgin Money US — provider of financial services in the United States

Virgin Credit Card

Virgin Money Giving — Online fundraising website

Virgin Nigeria — A former subsidiary of Virgin Atlantic Airlines

Virgin Play — a Spanish publisher of video games, once part of the now defunct Virgin Interactive.

Virgin Racing — a Formula One team new for 2010, formerly called Manor.

Virgin Radio — Virgin branded radio stations around the world.

Virgin Radio Asia — collection of station operating in India and Thailand including Virgin Soft, Hitz, Easy FM and Oui

99.9 Virgin Radio FM — a Canadian radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format in Toronto, Ontario.

Virgin Radio 95.3FM — a Canadian radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Virgin Radio 96 FM — a Canadian radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format in Montreal, Quebec on 95.9 MHz.

98.5 Virgin Radio - a Canadian radio station broadcasting a contemporary hit radio format in Calgary, Alberta.

Virgin Radio 106.9FM — a Canadian radio station broadcasting a mainstream rock format in Ottawa, Ontario.

Virgin Radio (France) — (Lagardère Active) a rebranding of the "Europe 2" radio station

Virgin Radio Italia

Virgin Radio Dubai

Virgin Radio India

Virgin Radio Jordan

Virgin Radio Thailand

Virgin Radio Turkey

Virgin Records — record label now owned by EMI

Virgin Spa — shop chain retailing Virgin Cosmetics product

Virgin Trains — a railway operator in the United Kingdom

Virgin Trains ExpressCoach — Intercity bus & coach services

Virgin Unite — charitable foundation

Virgin Vacations — U.S. travel agency

Virgin Vie At Home — retailer of body care, cosmetics, homeware and jewellery products through the Internet, direct selling and Virgin Vie stores (Sent into Administration in 2009, having been rebranded 9 months earlier as Effective Cosmetics (However still selling Virgin Vie branded products)

Virgin Wines — A Californian-based Internet wine retailer, created in 2005 and producer of Red and White wines

Virgin Voucher — gift voucher scheme, also functions as a staff reward scheme

Virgin Ware — clothes brand and retailer

Virgin Management — Custodians

(source:wikipedia)