Virgin Group Ltd is a branded venture capital organization founded by British business tycoon Richard Branson[2], sometimes perceived as a conglomerate. 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 £5,010,000,000. It consists of more than 400 companies around the world. Virgin Group operates its headquarters at The School House, 50 Brook Green in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.[3] 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 (now part of TIML Radio Limited) 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. [edit] Virgin brands - AirAsia X — long-haul budget airline operating from Malaysia (20% owned by Virgin Group)
- Nigerian Eagle Airlines — regional and domestic Nigerian airline, was Virgin Nigeria Airways (49% owned by Virgin Group)
- Ouï FM — rock radio station in France and Asia
- V Festival — two-day music festival held in two separate locations in the United Kingdom
- 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 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 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 and gambling
- Virgin Green Fund (originally known as Virgin Fuels) — venture capital firm for investing in petroleum alternatives
- Virgin Health Bank[4] — a business enabling parents to store their baby's stem cells
- Virgin Healthcare provides a selection of healthcare services tailored to local demand [5]
- Virgin HealthMiles
- Virgin Holidays — UK travel agency and tour operator for worldwide destinations served by Virgin Atlantic and its partner companies
- Virgin Limited Edition — exclusive hotel operator
- 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 Media Television — a British television network, made up of Virgin 1, Trouble, Bravo, Living TV & 50% stake in UKTV
- 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 Money — providers of financial services
- Virgin Money Giving - Online fundraising website
- 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 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 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
[edit] See also [edit] References [edit] External links - Business data
| Virgin Group | | | General | | | | Travel | | | Publishing
and entertainment | | | | Retail | | | | Motorsport | | | |
