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Virgin
The Virgin Group is the group of companies using the Virgin brand of British celebrity business tycoon Sir Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle, although many others have been entered into.
Although Branson retains complete ownership and control of the Virgin Brand, the commercial set up of companies using it is varied and complex. The group is sometimes perceived as a conglomerate, but this is not in fact the case. Each of the companies operating under the Virgin brand are separate entities, with some being wholly owned by Branson, while he holds 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 Radio (now part of SMG plc) and Virgin Music (now part of EMI). With a few exceptions, all of the companies began as wholly owned Virgin subsidiaries.
To understand the Virgin structure, it is best to think of Sir Richard as a venture capitalist who unites all of his differing ventures under a single brand name.
Virgin Brands (under various ownership)
- Virgin Active - a health club chain in South Africa, Italy and the United Kingdom
- Virgin America - a U.S. domestic low-cost airline scheduled for launch in 2006
- Virgin Atlantic Airways - an international carrier based at London's Heathrow Airport
- Virgin Balloon Flights - a hot-air balloon operator
- Virgin Blue - a low-cost airline in Australia and the South Pacific based in Australia
- Pacific Blue - a low-cost subsidiary of Virgin Blue based in New Zealand
- Polynesian Blue - a Samoan international low-cost airline
- Virgin Books - publisher, retailer and distributor of books
- Virgin Brides - bridal wear shop in Manchester
- Virgin Cars - a U.K. low-cost car dealership and superstore
- Virgin Cinemas - Sold to UGC
- Virgin Comics - Indian comic book producer
- Virgin Cosmetics - retailer of Virgin Vie cosmetics and jewellery through internet, direct selling and Virgin Spa stores.
- Virgin Digital - online digital music retailer
- Virgin Drinks - manufacturer of soft drinks including Virgin Cola
- Virgin Electronics - formerly Virgin Pulse, consumer electronics
- Virgin Experience Days - corporate and consumer experience events
- Virgin Express - a low-cost European airline
- Virgin Fuels - venture capital firm for investing in petroleum alternatives
- Virgin Galactic - a venture to market and operate commercial space flights, using spacecraft designed by Scaled Composites
- Virgin Games - online games and gambling
- Virgin Holidays - U.K. travel agency and tour operator for destinations served by Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Interactive - games distributor now owned by Titus Interactive
- Virgin Jewellery - jewellery arm of Virgin Cosmetics
- Virgin Limited Edition - exclusive hotels
- Kasbah Tamadot - exclusive Moroccan holiday destination
- Necker Island - exclusive island in British Virgin Islands for private hire
- The Roof Gardens and Babylon - 1.5 acres 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 Megastores - CD, DVD and games retailer chain with high-street and online stores
- Virgin Mobile - mobile phone network.
- Virgin Money - providers of financial services
- Virgin Nigeria - international, regional and domestic Nigerian airline
- Virgin Play - a video game promoter, distributor and marketer in Spain
- Virgin Radio - British commercial radio station broadcast on AM, FM (London only),DAB, internet, Digital TV. Other Virgin radio brands include:
- ouï fm - rock radio station in France and Asia
- Radio Free Virgin - internet radio broadcaster with over 60 channels
- Virgin Radio Asia - collection of station operating in India and Thailand including Virgin Soft, Hitz, Easy FM ad Oui
- Virgin Radio Classic Rock - classic rock station broadcast on DAB, internet and Satellite TV
- Virgin Radio Groove - black music station broadcast on DAB, internet and Satellite TV
- Virgin Radio Xtreme - rock station aimed at teenage males broadcast on DAB, internet and Satellite TV
- Virgin Records - record label now owned by EMI
- Virgin Spa - shop chain retailing Virgin Cosmetics products
- Virgin Trains - a railway operator in the United Kingdom
- Virgin TV - Proposed NTL/Virgin Mobile merged group. (aka Virgin Vision)
- Virgin Unite - charitable foundation
- Virgin Vacations - U.S. travel agency
- Virgin Vie - brand of cosmetics and jewellery sold through Virgin Cosmetics
- Virgin Vines - A Californian-based company, created in 2005 and producer of Red and White wines
- Virgin Vision - Proposed NTL/Virgin Mobile merged group. (aka Virgin TV)
- Virgin Voucher - staff incentive scheme
- Virgin Ware - clothes brand and retailer
- Virgin Wines - wine brand
- Virgin.net - internet service provider, now owned by NTL. Future services from Virgin.net, Virgin Mobile, NTL and Telewest are likely to be branded Virgin Media.
- V2 Records - an independent music label
- V Festival - music festival held in the UK over two days in two separate locations
- V Festival (North America) a North American variant of the V Festival, begun in 2006
- The Trainline.com - internet based train ticket booking service in the UK
- Blue Holidays - travel agency
See also
External links
- Virgin Group Official website of Virgin group
- VirginBrand.com - Unofficial blog of the Virgin Group
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"Virgin Group"