57-651: The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who , which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and featured the First through Sixth Doctors . (The Seventh Doctor also appeared in one novel.) The Missing Adventures complemented
114-686: A 20-per cent stake in Malaysia's AirAsia X . On 13 October 2007, Branson's Virgin Group sought to add Northern Rock to its empire after submitting an offer that would result in Branson personally owning 30% of the company and changing the company's name from Northern Rock to Virgin Money . The Daily Mail ran a campaign against his bid; Vince Cable , financial spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats , suggested in
171-748: A 90% stake in the company in March 2007. In November 2009, Virgin became an independent imprint within Ebury Publishing , a division of the Random House Group. Other popular ranges have included various erotic fiction lines: Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and as of 2016 controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at
228-716: A central character). When the BBC decided in 1996 to do their own line of novels with the Eighth Doctor , they withdrew the license from Virgin to publish the Eighth Doctor Adventures . The adventures of the previous Doctors were taken up by the BBC in the Past Doctor Adventures line of books. In 2014, both The Scales of Injustice and The Sands of Time were reprinted as part of BBC Books ' The Monster Collection . These were followed with The English Way of Death ,
285-513: A chain of health care clinics that would offer conventional medical care alongside homeopathic and complementary therapies, a development that was welcomed by Ben Bradshaw , the UK's health minister. Plans where GPs could be paid for referring National Health Service (NHS) patients to private Virgin services were abandoned in June 2008. The BMA warned the plan would "damage clinical objectivity", there would be
342-505: A cooperative. His business sold records for considerably less than the "High Street" outlets, especially the chain WHSmith . Branson once said, "There is no point in starting your own business unless you do it out of a sense of frustration." At the time, many products were sold under restrictive marketing agreements that limited discounting, despite efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to limit retail price maintenance . Branson eventually started
399-619: A financial incentive for GPs to push patients toward the Virgin services at the centre. Plans to take over an NHS Practice in Swindon were abandoned in late September 2008. In February 2009, Branson's Virgin organization was reported as bidding to buy the former Honda Formula One team. Branson later stated an interest in Formula One , but claimed that, before the Virgin brand became involved with Honda or any other team, Formula One would have to develop
456-533: A five-year contract for provision of a range of health services which had previously been under the aegis of NHS Surrey, the local primary care trust. By March 2015, Virgin Care was in charge of more than 230 services nationwide. In July 2012, Branson announced plans to build an orbital space launch system , designated LauncherOne . Four commercial customers have already contracted for launches and two companies are developing standardised satellite buses optimised to
513-675: A global audience. The company was founded with author Deepak Chopra , filmmaker Shekhar Kapur , and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra . Branson also launched the Virgin Health Bank on 1 February 2007, offering parents-to-be the opportunity to store their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells in private and public stem-cell banks. In June 2006, a tip-off from Virgin Atlantic led both UK and US competition authorities to investigate price-fixing attempts between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. In August 2007, British Airways
570-514: A licence was initially refused. However, after the television series was cancelled at the end of 1989, Virgin were granted the licence to produce full-length original novels continuing the story from the point at which the series had concluded. The first range covered only the continuing adventures of the Seventh Doctor, but when that proved successful, Virgin also created this range covering the previous Doctors, with new stories that fit in between
627-527: A magazine named Student in 1966 with Nik Powell . The first issue of Student appeared in January 1968, and a year later, Branson's net worth was estimated at £50,000. The office for the venture was situated in the crypt of St. John's Church, off Bayswater Road , in London. Though not initially as successful as he hoped, the magazine later became a vital component of the mail-order record business Branson started from
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#1732851564477684-443: A more economically efficient and environmentally responsible image. At the start of the 2009 Formula One season on 28 March, it was announced that Virgin would be sponsoring the new Brawn GP team, with discussions also under way about introducing a less "dirty" fuel in the medium term. After the end of the season and the subsequent purchase of Brawn GP by Mercedes-Benz , Branson invested in an 80% buyout of Manor Grand Prix, with
741-565: A part of The History Collection (2015). Including books featuring two of the Doctors, the total tallies are: First Doctor, 5 books; Second, 4 books; Third, 6 books; Fourth, 8 books; Fifth, 5 books; Sixth, 5 books; and Seventh, 1 book. Three of the Missing Adventures were sequels to televised serials , they were: Two of the Missing Adventures were novelisations: Many Missing Adventures featured old foes, including: Speed of Flight
798-583: A passenger onboard Virgin Galactic Unity 22 at the edge of space , a suborbital test flight for his spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. The mission lasted approximately one hour, reaching a peak altitude of 53.5 miles (86.1 km). At 70, Branson became the third oldest person to fly to space. Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on 18 July 1950 in Blackheath , Royal Borough of Greenwich , London,
855-509: A record shop in Oxford Street in London . In 1971, he was questioned in connection with the selling of records declared export stock. The matter was never brought before a court because Branson agreed to repay any unpaid purchase tax of 33% and a £70,000 fine. His parents re-mortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement. In 1972, using money earned from his record store, Branson launched
912-528: A stewardess. Fernandes escaped as the bet winner, as Lotus Racing ended tenth in the championship, while Virgin Racing ended twelfth and last. Branson kept his word after losing the bet, as he served his duty as a stewardess on an Air Asia flight between Perth and Kuala Lumpur on 12 May 2013. In 2010, Branson became patron of the UK's Gordon Bennett 2010 gas balloon race, which has 16 hydrogen balloons flying across Europe. In April 2012, Virgin Care commenced
969-653: A variation of the Virgin Galactic livery to his personal business jet, the Dassault Falcon 900EX "Galactic Girl" (G-GALX). He was ninth in The Sunday Times Rich List 2006 of the wealthiest people or families in the UK, worth slightly more than £3 billion. Branson wrote in his autobiography of the decision to start an airline. My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them ... from
1026-624: A young age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student . In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records —later known as Virgin Megastores —in 1972. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started the Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label . In 1997, Branson founded
1083-462: Is manufactured by The Spaceship Company , which was founded by Branson and Rutan and is now solely owned by Virgin Galactic. In 2013, Branson said that he planned to take his two children, 31-year-old Holly and 28-year-old Sam, on a trip to outer space when they ride the SpaceShipTwo rocket plane on its first public flight, then planned for 2014. As part of his promotion of the firm, Branson has added
1140-636: Is the only novel in the series that is a prequel; to Timelash . In 1996, Virgin Books published Who Killed Kennedy , a Doctor Who novel by David Bishop . Although set during the time of the Third Doctor, Virgin published this book as a standalone work and not as part of the Missing Adventures series. Virgin Publishing Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House , and 10% owned by Virgin Group ,
1197-590: The Virgin New Adventures range, which had proved successful. Virgin had purchased the successful children's imprint Target Books in 1989, with Virgin's new fiction editor Peter Darvill-Evans taking over the range. Target's major output was novelisations of televised Doctor Who stories, and Darvill-Evans realised that there were few stories left to be novelised. He approached the BBC for permission to commission original stories written directly for print, but such
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#17328515644771254-712: The Doctor Who New Adventures novels, officially licensed full-length novels carrying on the story of the popular science-fiction television series following its cancellation in 1989. Virgin published this series from 1991 to 1997, as well as a range of Doctor Who reference books from 1992 to 1998 under the Doctor Who Books imprint. In recent times the company is best known for its commercial non-fiction list, which includes business, health and lifestyle, music, film, and celebrity biographies. Richard Branson 's autobiography Losing My Virginity , released in 1998,
1311-628: The House of Commons that Branson's criminal conviction for tax evasion might be felt by some as a good enough reason not to trust him with public money. In September 2023, Branson declared his decision against injecting additional funds into Virgin Galactic, his space travel company experiencing financial losses. He highlighted that his business empire no longer possesses extensive financial resources, indicating constraints on further investment. On 9 January 2008, Virgin Healthcare announced that it would open
1368-680: The SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane designed for space tourism . In March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for "services to entrepreneurship". Due to his work in retail, music, and transport, his taste for adventure, and for his humanitarian work, he has become a prominent global figure. In 2007, he was placed in the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list. In June 2023, Forbes listed Branson's estimated net worth at US$ 3 billion. On 11 July 2021, Branson travelled as
1425-789: The Virgin Rail Group to bid for passenger rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail . The Virgin Trains brand operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 1997 to 2019, the InterCity CrossCountry franchise from 1997 to 2007, and the InterCity East Coast franchise from 2015 to 2018. In 2004, he founded spaceflight corporation Virgin Galactic , based at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, noted for
1482-554: The Earth's climate. Branson also announced that he would be joined in the adjudication of the prize by a panel of five judges, all world authorities in their respective fields: Al Gore , Sir Crispin Tickell , Tim Flannery , James E. Hansen , and James Lovelock . In July 2007, Branson purchased his Australian home, Makepeace Island , in Noosa . In August 2007, Branson announced that he had bought
1539-460: The Virgin group was Virgin Fuels , which was set up to respond to global warming and exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and, in the near future, aircraft. Branson has stated that he was formerly a global warming sceptic and was influenced in his decision by a breakfast meeting with Al Gore . On 21 September 2006, Branson pledged to invest
1596-514: The Virgin label to EMI for £500 million. Branson said that he wept when the sale was completed because the record business had been the very start of the Virgin empire. He created V2 Records in 1996 to re-enter the music business, owning 5% himself. Virgin also acquired European short-haul airline Euro Belgian Airlines and renamed it Virgin Express . In 1997, Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business exploits by entering into
1653-404: The age of sixteen. Branson has dyslexia , and had poor academic performance; on his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson , told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire. Branson has also talked openly about having ADHD . Branson's parents were supportive of his endeavours from an early age. His mother was an entrepreneur; one of her most successful ventures
1710-510: The chance to see our beautiful planet from such a powerful perspective." In 2014, Branson launched the "Foodpreneur" food and drink-focused start-up competition. Winners were provided with mentorship from Branson, legal support, and brand counseling. The 2014 winners included Proper Beans, Killer Tomato, Sweetpea Pantry and Sweet Virtues. In 2015, the competition expanded to the Virgin StartUp's Foodpreneur Festival. The 2015 winners were given
1767-519: The company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company . Virgin established its book publishing arm in the late 1970s; in the latter part of the 1980s Virgin purchased several existing companies, including WH Allen , well known among Doctor Who fans for their Target Books imprint; Virgin Books was incorporated into WH Allen in 1989, but in 1991 WH Allen was renamed Virgin Publishing Ltd. Virgin Publishing's early success came with
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1824-519: The contract, Branson said he was convinced the civil servants had "got their maths wrong". In October, after an investigation into the bidding process, the deal was scrapped. The Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced there were "significant technical flaws" in the process and mistakes had been made by transport staff. Virgin Rail continued to operate the West Coast line until 7 December 2019, when it
1881-495: The design of LauncherOne, in expectation of business opportunities created by the new smallsat launcher. In August 2012, when re-tendered the InterCity West Coast franchise was awarded to FirstGroup after a competitive tender process overseen by the Department for Transport . Branson had expressed his concerns about the tender process and questioned the validity of the business plan submitted by FirstGroup. When Virgin Rail lost
1938-464: The good of mankind. The Virgin Earth Challenge was to award $ 25 million to the individual or group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design that will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. This removal must have long-term effects and contribute materially to the stability of
1995-529: The opportunity to pitch Target Corporation buyers. The 2015 winners included Pip & Nut, Double Dutch Drinks, Harry Bromptons, Cauli Rice and Mallow and Marsh. In March 2015, Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating the InterCity East Coast franchise; the company was a joint venture between Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin Group (10%). Due to the line performing below VTEC's expectations, it
2052-635: The partnership on Richard Branson's boat, leading to the concise and impactful title " Now That's What I Call Music! ," inspired by a Danish Bacon poster gifted to Simon Draper. Richard Branson's introduction to the antique shop owned by Joan Templeman, played a pivotal role in his growing fascination with old signs and advertisements, ultimately shaping the collection. Branson formed Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Cargo in 1984. He formed Virgin Holidays in 1985. In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold
2109-677: The perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it. In 2006, through a merger with SN Brussels Airlines , Virgin Airlines formed Brussels Airlines , while retaining its separate listing. It also started a national airline based in Nigeria, called Virgin Nigeria , which ceased operations in 2009. Another airline, Virgin America , began flying out of San Francisco International Airport in August 2007. Branson's next venture with
2166-607: The press that portrayed Virgin negatively. After the so-called campaign of "dirty tricks" , British Airways settled the case, giving £500,000 to Branson, a further £110,000 to his airline, and had to pay legal fees of up to £3 million. Branson distributed his compensation (the so-called "BA bonus") among his staff. Branson launched Virgin Mobile in 1999, and airline Virgin Blue in Australia in 2000. On 25 September 2004, Branson announced
2223-569: The profits of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains in research for environmentally-friendly fuels. The investment is estimated to be worth $ 3 billion. On 4 July 2006, Branson sold his Virgin Mobile company to UK cable TV, broadband, and telephone company NTL:Telewest for £900 million. A new company was launched with much fanfare and publicity on 8 February 2007, under the name Virgin Media . The decision to merge his Virgin Media Company with NTL
2280-417: The public to such lesser known avant-garde music as Faust and Can . Virgin Records also introduced Culture Club to the music world. Branson's net worth was estimated at £5 million by 1979, and a year later, Virgin Records went international. Branson's first successful entry into the airline industry was during a trip to Puerto Rico. His flight was cancelled, so he decided to charter his own plane
2337-615: The railway business during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s. Virgin Rail Group won the InterCity CrossCountry and InterCity West Coast franchises, beginning operations in January and March 1997 respectively. Both franchises were scheduled to run for 15 years. A series of disputes in the early 1990s caused tension between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways , which viewed Virgin as an emerging competitor. Virgin subsequently accused British Airways of poaching its passengers, hacking its computers, and leaking stories to
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2394-421: The record label Virgin Records with Nik Powell . The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees because they were all new at business. Branson bought a country estate north of Oxford in which he installed a residential recording studio, The Manor Studio . He leased studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield , whose debut album Tubular Bells (1973)
2451-531: The rest of the way and offered a ride to the rest of the stranded passengers for a small fee to cover the cost. In 1982, Virgin purchased the gay bar Heaven . In 1991, in a consortium with David Frost , Branson made an unsuccessful bid for three ITV franchises under the CPV-TV name. The early 1980s also saw his only attempt as a producer—on the novelty record " Baa, Baa, Black Sheep ", by The Singing Sheep in association with Doug McLean and Grace McDonald, on which he
2508-409: The same church he used for Student . Branson used the magazine to advertise popular albums, driving his record sales. He interviewed several prominent personalities of the late 1960s for the magazine including Mick Jagger and R. D. Laing . Branson took over full direction of Student after successfully lying to Powell that the workers at the magazine opposed Powell's plans to turn the magazine into
2565-579: The show Finding Your Roots , Branson was shown to have 3.9% South Asian (Indian) DNA, likely through intermarriage. Later, he stated that one of his great-great-great-grandmothers was an Indian named Ariya. Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School , a prep school in Surrey , before briefly attending Cliff View House School in Sussex . He attended Stowe School , a private school in Buckinghamshire until
2622-542: The signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic , will license the technology behind SpaceShipOne —funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and designed by aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan —to take paying passengers into suborbital outer space . Virgin Galactic plans to make flights available to the public with tickets priced at US$ 200,000 using the Scaled Composites White Knight Two . The spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo ,
2679-798: The son of Edward James Branson (1918–2011), a barrister , and his wife Evette Huntley Branson ( née Flindt ; 1924–2021), a former ballet dancer and air hostess. He has two younger sisters, Lindy and Vanessa . His grandfather, Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson , was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor . Branson's great-great-great-grandfather, John Edward Branson, left England for India in 1793; John Edward's father, Harry Wilkins Branson, later joined his son in Madras . Starting from 1793, four generations of Branson's family lived in India, mostly at Cuddalore , in modern-day Tamil Nadu . On
2736-564: The team being renamed Virgin Racing . In 2010, Virgin Hotels was launched under the Virgin Group. In February 2018, Branson announced the first Virgin hotel in the UK would open in Edinburgh. Branson and Tony Fernandes , owner of Air Asia and Lotus F1 Racing , had a bet for the 2010 F1 season where the losing team's boss should work on the winner's airline during a charity flight dressed as
2793-514: The televised serials. In addition to original novels, the Missing Adventures series also incorporated two novelisations: The Ghosts of N-Space , based upon a mid-1990s BBC audio play, and Downtime , which was based upon an independent video production featuring several characters from the Doctor Who series (the novelisation is one of the few Doctor Who novels in which the Doctor does not appear as
2850-532: Was an international best-seller at the time, and continues to sell well. His follow-up title Business Stripped Bare was published in September 2008. Virgin Business Guides included titles by Robert Craven , Paul Barrow and Rachelle Thackray. More recently the company has enjoyed success with Robert H Frank 's The Economic Naturalist , where the author had his economics students pose interesting questions from everyday life and explain them through economics. Random House , through its United Kingdom division, acquired
2907-473: Was announced in May 2018 that the contract would be terminated early by the government. VTEC ceased operating on 23 June 2018 and operations passed to a government-owned operator, London North Eastern Railway . In November 2015, Branson announced the addition of Moskito Island to the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio. This resort, The Branson Estate on Moskito Island, offers 11 bedrooms for 22 guests. In 2017, Virgin Group invested in Hyperloop One , developing
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#17328515644772964-487: Was building and selling wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper bins. In London, he started off squatting from 1967 to 1968. Branson is an atheist . He said in a 2011 interview with CNN's Piers Morgan that he believes in evolution and the importance of humanitarian efforts but not in the existence of God. "I would love to believe," he said. "It's very comforting to believe". After failed attempts to grow and sell both Christmas trees and budgerigars , Branson launched
3021-413: Was credited as "Jeff Mutton". The track consisted of samples of animal noises recorded at his aunt Claire Hoares' farm in Norfolk, set to a drum-machine-produced track and reached number 42 in the UK charts in 1982. In 1983, Now That's What I Call Music! emerged from Virgin Records offices as a unique compilation series, distinct in its originality. Collaborating with EMI , Peter Jamieson orchestrated
3078-466: Was fined £271 million over the allegations. Virgin Atlantic was given immunity for tipping off the authorities and received no fine—a controversial decision the Office of Fair Trading defended as being in the public interest. On 9 February 2007, Branson announced the setting up of a new global science and technology prize—The Virgin Earth Challenge —in the belief that history has shown that prizes of this nature encourage technological advancements for
3135-399: Was made in order to integrate compatible areas of the two businesses. Whilst Branson had owned three-quarters of Virgin Mobile, he would now get paid £8.5 million per annum for the use of the Virgin brand name. He does not own any part of Virgin Media. In 2006, Branson formed Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focused on creating new stories and characters for
3192-461: Was replaced by Avanti West Coast . In September 2014, Branson announced his investment in drone company 3D Robotics stating, "It's amazing to see what a little flying object with a GoPro attached can do. Before they came along the alternative was an expensive helicopter and crew. I'm really excited about the potential 3D Robotics sees in drones. They can do a lot of good in the world, and I hope this affordable technology will give many more people
3249-440: Was the first release for Virgin Records and became a chart-topping best-seller. Virgin signed controversial bands such as the Sex Pistols , which other companies were reluctant to sign. Virgin Records would go on to sign other artists including the Rolling Stones , Peter Gabriel , XTC , Japan , UB40 , Steve Winwood and Paula Abdul , and to become the world's largest independent record label. It also won praise for exposing
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